Hogwarts, A Herstory
by annetaco
Summary: Montgomery Finkle is a talented young witch with a mischievous streak. What happens when she clashes with the most notorious prankster Hogwarts has ever seen? Chapter 16 'Ice Cream and Kisses' up, about to start 6th year. SBOC Marauders Era.
1. The Sorting

**My first Harry Potter fic! There are some spoilers from all seven books, so beware! I don't own Harry Potter. Um...the rating may change in the future as they get older. I'm trying to stay as close to the canon as possible. If Hagrid shows up, I just wasn't sure what year he started, I know Molly Weasley made some vague reference to a different grounds keeper but we'll just keep that to ourselves, shall we? Um...enjoy, R&R, all that good stuff.**

* * *

"Remember, if you get hungry, just tickle the pear in the painting of fruit underneath the Great Hall to get into the kitchens."

"I know, mum"

"Don't talk to anyone you don't know."

"Dad, that's _everyone_."

"If you get in trouble, don't forget the Disillusionment Charm your father taught you."

"I won't."

"Listen to everything your teachers say, dear."

At this, Montgomery could barely suppress rolling her eyes. _Yeah, right. _Climbing aboard the crimson train, she gave her parents one last kiss and a hug before turning and walking through the crowded corridor. She found an empty compartment at the back of the carriage and dragged her trunk inside just as the train lurched forward.

As she looked out the empty compartment window at her smiling parents, Montgomery couldn't help but grin herself. _This is it. A new beginning_. Of course, she would always love her home, but being an only child had always made her feel a little lonely. Now, she would have a whole school full of people to spend time with. Not to mention, her parents were so over-protective, Montgomery was looking forward to breaking some rules, maybe going out to wander the halls after hours…

A loud thump snapped Montgomery out of her reverie and she looked over her shoulder as two first-years walked in through the sliding door. One of them, a pale girl with dark red hair and green eyes, looked rather cross and sat down with a "huff" of anger. The other, a lanky boy with long dark hair and a hooked nose, followed suit, though he looked as though he were suppressing a smirk. Montgomery cleared her throat and they both looked up, apparently unaware that there was anyone else in the compartment with them.

"Oh, sorry. Do you mind if we sit here with you?" asked the girl in a friendly voice as she gave an apologetic smile.

"Course not," Montgomery said as she smiled back and held out her hand. "Montgomery Finkle."

"Lily Evans. This is Severus Snape," she replied as she shook hands and motioned over to the boy.

"Pleasure," he mumbled monotonously.

"So why were you two so late to get a compartment?" Montgomery asked, grabbing onto her first contact with classmates. Severus and Lily looked at each other awkwardly.

"These two guys were being prats is all," said Lily, giving a frustrated sigh. "Honestly, what a way to leave a first impression," she muttered to no one in particular. The boy looked at her for a minute before turning back to Montgomery, apparently keen on getting away from the touchy topic.

"So…any idea what house you are going to be in?" he asked with a light-hearted voice that didn't fit his dark features.

"No idea," she said, shrugging her shoulders absentmindedly. "My mum was in Hufflepuff, my dad was in Ravenclaw. I guess I'm up for grabs. What about you?"

"Slytherin," he said with a proud smile, his eyes lighting up for the first time since they'd met.

"I think I have an uncle who was in Slytherin...What about you…Lily?" she asked a little hesitantly. The girl was glaring out the window, as though she was still raging inside about the two boys from before.

"Oh, I dunno," she said casually, turning back into the conversation. "My parents are muggles so I've no idea really…" The three continued talking throughout the afternoon as the train sped across the English countryside. When it began growing dark, an older student peeked his head in and told Montgomery and Lily they were almost at Hogwarts, so they should probably change. Severus had apparently been eager about school as he was already in his robes.

When the Hogwart Express slowed to a stop outside Hogsmeade Station, the three looked at each other excitedly before hopping off the train. "Firs' years," shouted an alarmingly tall man that could be seen standing over the crowds of students. He looked over at Montgomery and gave a friendly wave. She smiled back undecidedly before Lily grabbed hers and Severus's hands and dragged them towards the gentile giant.

"Come on, this way!" she called, looking over her shoulder and laughing. Montgomery and Severus looked at each other with raised eyebrows before breaking out in laughter themselves. _There's something about this girl_, thought Montgomery as she allowed herself to be pulled into a boat by Lily, _you can't help but smile around her_.

The mood seemed to have been doused in ice water as all the first years stood in the entrance hall, awaiting their sorting. All of the students fidgeted quietly and shot each other worried looks as Professor McGonagall stood before them, delivering some sort of speech. Montgomery was too busy looking around at her classmates to really pay attention. She wondered vaguely which would be her friends. Which would be her enemies. Who she would die for. Who she would live to see everyday…

"That's them," Lily's hiss stopped her daydreaming as the two girls looked over at a couple boys that were huddled together. The one with glasses seemed to be trying to cheer up the other by turning Professor McGonagall's barely visible socks bright pink. Montgomery could only guess that he was as nervous about the sorting as everyone else around them.

"They don't look so bad," she whispered back to Lily, who was looking at her expectantly.

"Just you wait 'til one of them opens his mouth around you, you'll see." Montgomery only nodded as the crowd started shifting towards the door to the Great Hall.

Lily was the first of the three of them to be sorted. As the hat shouted out, "GRYFFINDOR!" she walked over to the cheering table, giving Severus a sad look. Montgomery only had time to give him an encouraging smile before her own name was called.

"Finkle, is it?" whispered the hat in her ear as it was slipped over her head. She gave a small start. "Never know where you're going to turn up in your lot," it said thoughtfully. "Good intuition, but loyal too. Don't scare easy, either, eh? Eager to make friends…but still looking for fun, better be…GRYFFINDOR," it shouted finally. Montgomery got up and walked over to sit between Lily and the boy who had needed cheering up before. He looked plenty pleased now though.

"Sirius Black," he said jovially and he grabbed Montgomery's hand.

"Montgomery Finkle," she said, smiling. Hogwarts was just full of pleasant people. She looked over at Lily, who was staring at Severus.

"Do you…do you think he could be in Gryffindor?" asked Montgomery, trying to lighten the mood. Lily cocked her head thoughtfully but Sirius let out a snort.

"That kid? Just look at him!" he said indignantly.

"I thought you said all your family was in Slytherin," Lily retorted bitterly.

"Yeah, well they're a load of gits, aren't they?" Montgomery looked at him sternly.

"You're pretty quick to judge people. He seemed nice enough on the train." Sirius looked at her, apparently at a loss for words but then Professor McGonagall called, "Potter, James" and his interest was once again absorbed by the sorting.

Hours later, Montgomery and her roommates were all sitting in their beds, talking animatedly about Hogwarts. It was hard to believe, but there was already gossip flying around the school.

"Did you see that Sirius Black character?" asked one girl with dark pigtails whose name, Montgomery recalled vaguely, was Alison Hung.

"Yeah, what about him?" she asked in what she hoped was an interested tone. Alison gave her an exasperated look.

"He's only the dreamiest guy I've ever seen in my life." Lily looked like she was growing bored with the conversation.

"Please," she sighed, "He's eleven years old. I doubt that _boys _that young even have hormones."

"We're all eleven," piped in one of their other roommates, a small girl with a long brown ponytail who Montgomery thought was called Lorraine Wilson. "You don't have to be such a spoil-sport." Lily rolled her eyes and fell back onto her bed with a groan.

"I'm going to bed," she said as she pulled her curtains closed rather more aggressively than necessary. Montgomery looked at her watch, _10:30_, before hopping down off her bed.

"I was going to go explore the school, anyone wanna come with me?" Alison and Lorraine shook their heads. Lily popped her head out of the curtains and said a polite "No thanks" before disappearing again. Their last roommate, a girl with golden skin and long, black hair named Janis Rodriguez looked like she was considering it, but finally declined the invitation. "Suit yourselves," she said with a content sigh as she walked over to the mirror.

A tall girl with droopy hazel eyes looked back. She was too thin and too tall for her age and could have passed for a boy had it not been for the wavy blonde hair she had tied to the side. As the other girls looked on, Montgomery smirked and gave her head a sharp jab with her wand.

Janis gasped. It was as though Montgomery was melting into wall behind her. "How'd you learn to do that," said Alison, her eyes wide in awe.

"My dad taught me," she said as her feet seemed to disappear into the floor. "It's one of the only things I can do though," she added as a second thought, not wanting to seem too conceded. Janis got up from her bed.

"If you can put that charm on me, I'll go with you," she said with a mischievous look.

The two girls slipped quietly through the portrait-hole, passed a confused Fat Lady and into the dark hallway. "Since there's no real light, these Disillusionment Charms should conceal us well enough," Montgomery whispered behind her to Janis. "Now, where should we go now that all of Hogwarts is at our fingertips?"

"I dunno," said Janis with a little laugh. "I guess it's just the fact that we're not supposed to do it that's so fun." The two edged along the hallway cautiously, still unfamiliar with their new surroundings. They headed down the stairs into the now abandoned Great Hall. Montgomery was suddenly reminded of how little she had eaten, having been too busy meeting new people at dinner to really take in a full meal.

"Wanna go down into the kitchens?" she asked. She could feel Janis's bewildered look, even if she couldn't see her face.

"We just ate."

"I was too busy socializing," she answered airily, pretending that she was above food.

"Haha, fine. But I don't know where they are, do you?" Montgomery nodded, but remembered that she was practically invisible.

"Yeah, my mum told me."

"You sure have useful parents." They both laughed quietly as they headed towards the kitchens.

"What are _your_ parents like, then?" asked Montgomery after a while.

"Oh, well we moved here from Spain a few years ago and they opened up a chain of restaurants, so they're quite busy, thank god"

"Oh, so they're muggles?"

"Yup."

"You don't like them?"

"Well I mean, they're just a bit stressful to be around. But we get along well enough I suppose."

"You're lucky, my parents do nothing but hang around me," Montgomery said with an annoyed sigh. "Being an only child sucks."

"Can't sympathize with you there, I've got three older brothers."

"Do they go here?" she asked as she reached up and tickled the pear in the painting.

"No…they're…muggles, too," answered Janis, who was busy looking at the huge hall that had opened up before them with dozens of house elves bustling about. One of them stopped as the portrait opened and looked at them curiously.

"Um, is someone there, misses or sirs?" Montgomery smiled and tapped her and Janis on the head. As they reappeared, the house-elf gave a bow. "Anything I can do for you?" he asked as others stopped to crowd around the girls.

"Yeah," Janis giggled, "My friend here was hungry. Maybe some pudding to fill her deprived stomach?" At once, a dozen trays of all the desserts you could think of were thrust upon them and they grabbed the nearest one, showering gratitude onto the elves.

"Let's sit by the fire," suggested Montgomery. Just as the two girls were settling down for a nice little feast of their own, a squeaking signaled the opening of the portrait and they leapt up in surprise.

"…great-great-grandfather told me about this place. Annoying git really, but good for some…What are you doing here?" Montgomery looked in the direction of the voice, which sounded vaguely familiar.

"Whose there?" she shouted in what she hoped was an intimidating voice.

"Oh right, the cloak," came another voice from the same direction. As quickly as she blinked, there were two boys standing at the entrance to the kitchens: Sirius Black and James Potter.

"We were hungry," Janis finally answered, a bit defensively.

"I thought only guys had bottomless stomachs," said Sirius offhandedly as they ambled over to the fireplace and sat down beside them.

"Nope," said Montgomery as she took an exaggerated bite out of a cream puff.

"Never thought I'd see such young masters down in the kitchens," said an elf as he came by to offer the boys more trays of food.

"Yeah, well this school's gonna see a lot that it hasn't now that we're here," said James with a mysterious wink at the elf.

"Haha, I'm sure it will," chuckled Montgomery as an idea popped into her head. Tomorrow morning was going to be very fun indeed…


	2. Negotiation

"Good morning, professor!" Montgomery greeted cheerfully as Professor Dumbledore walked down the steps into the Great Hall. He turned his head and gave her a knowing smile.

"Indeed it is!" He looked at her curiously as she bounced up and down on her heels enthusiastically. "Waiting for someone, are we Miss…eh…Finkle, is it?" She nodded.

"Something along those lines," she said casually. He nodded and gave her a wink before joining the rest of the teachers at the staff table for breakfast. As she waited for…well, something, Montgomery turned informally to the suit of armor that was standing next to her. "Come here often?" she asked genially.

"Quite," it answered gruffly. "Better watch it, madam. Here they come," it ended in a hushed tone as it gestured towards the top of the stairs. Montgomery smirked and took to leaning against the wall, pretending to be in deep conversation with the suit whilst keeping an eye on Sirius and James as they walked down sleepily.

"Blimey, shouldn'ta stayed up so late, eh?" asked James as he took off his glasses to rub his eyes. Sirius stretched his arms lazily and the two walked passed Montgomery without a second glance. She waited until they were a few paces ahead before whispering "Diffindo" and pointing her wand toward the seams in their robes. _A lot this school hasn't seen, eh?_ she laughed to herself as the boys each let out a startled cry. With a loud rip, their robes came tumbling to the floor, exposing their pale, thin bodies. A ripple of laughter echoed through the Great Hall and it took all of Montgomery's willpower to stay composed and partially hidden next to the suit of armor.

Blushing furiously, they both struggled to cover themselves with their torn robes before rushing off to the nearest bathroom.

When she thought it was safe, she began walking towards Gryffindor table to have a laugh with Lily. However, she felt a firm hand on her shoulder and turned swiftly around to face…Professor Dumbledore.

"A quick word in my office, if you will Miss Finkle." Too shocked to react, she numbly followed him through the walls and up a spiral staircase into his circular office. Not completely ashamed of herself, but at the same time, hoping she wasn't in too much trouble, Montgomery looked down at the floor, careful not to meet the Headmaster's gaze as he sat down at his desk.

"Getting along well, Miss Finkle?" he asked her in a conversational tone. She looked up, surprised that he wasn't yelling at her. In fact, he had a twinkle in his eyes that suggested he wanted to laugh.

"Uh…yeah…yes," she stammered.

"I saw you have befriended Miss Evans?" Montgomery nodded. "You would do well to follow in her example I think," he said offhandedly, but it was clear that, in his own way, he was still reprimanding her.

"Professor, I…" but he held up his hand.

"I'm not saying that those two boys don't need a little humility, nor am I saying nudity doesn't have its place." She stared at him. "However, one should exercise a bit more…subtly, when trying to impress one's friends. Especially on the first day of school." By the finality of his tone, Montgomery could tell that he had nothing more to say.

"I'll just…go back to breakfast then," she said hesitantly, adjusting her shoulder bag and turning for the door.

"Oh, and Miss Finkle?" she didn't turn around but her hand paused on the door handle. "I think I am right in assuming that Misters Black and Potter are unaware you are the culprit behind this incident. I think it would be best for it to stay that way, for your own sake if no one else's."

Montgomery ate her breakfast intently when she returned back to the Great Hall, shaking off Lily's accusations and praises.

"Ha, did you see the look on their faces? They won't be able to come downstairs for weeks!" Her amusement was met by silence, so she continued. "It was you, wasn't it? Everyone else was talking and laughing about it, but I thought I saw Dumbledore pull you aside afterwards." _My, toast sure is interesting_. "Anyway, that sure shut them up. I bet Sev got a crack out of it, I'm gonna go ask him what he thought." And with that, Lily stood up and walked over eagerly to the Slytherin table. Montgomery wanted more than anything to be over there, laughing about Sirius and James with her friends, but she had a feeling that Dumbledore had been correct. She would have to make sure no one knew it was her, or she would be on the receiving end of more attention than she thought she could handle, especially from her victims. Besides, she didn't want to get a big head.

When it was time to go to their first class, Potions, Lily, Severus and Montgomery walked down into the dungeons together, accompanied by the girls' roommates and some burly looking Slytherins that kept giving Lily dirty looks. The three of them grabbed a table in the front of the class, eager to be the first people to see the triumphant entrance of Sirius and James.

Ten minutes after the start of class, the two ambled in, looking disheveled and flustered, but for the most part, clothed. Their professor, a round, balding man waggled his finger in a fatherly manner before chuckling and pointing to the table next to Montgomery. As they sat down, she thought she saw Sirius give her a particularly dark glare. As the class start to work on their potions, a small paper airplane came sailing gracefully onto the table. Montgomery looked at it cautiously before unfolding it. _We know it was you_. She looked over, slightly alarmed, as James dragged a finger threateningly over his throat.

"Crap," she whispered.

"I don't see that on the materials list…"Lily said, bending over her book curiously.

_Dear Mum and Dad,_

_I just wanted you two to know that I love you very much. If you go to my room, the floorboard third from the left of the door and four in front of it is loose. Lift it up and you will find Herbert, the toad you gave me to bring to Hogwarts. I told you I lost him but I really just stuffed him under there with some spiders and hoped for the best. I couldn't bring him to school, more trouble than he's worth and what would people think?! Anyway, I just didn't want his death on my conscience…_

_When I was four, I was the one who broke your necklace, Mum. The one grammy gave you? And I broke the window two months later with a fanged Frisbee. I think that's under the floorboard, too._

Montgomery looked up from the table in the common room. She had been having lots of fun writing fake good-bye letters to her parents in case…well…Sirius and James were as angry with her as they seemed. There was a small pile of paper next to her, filled with all the things she'd done as a child but somehow gotten away with. It was fun to reminisce about the terror she had caused her muggle neighbors, even when she was very little. Making clumps of hair simply disappear or half-transfiguring dogs into ducks. She was always completely harmless of course, it was only for a good laugh since there were so few wizarding families in their neighborhood.

However, as it often did when Montgomery went off into her own thoughts, time got away with her and she was startled to find that she was the only one left in the common room. Thinking back, she did recall Lily calling down from the dorm about how late it was. She was about to look down at the watch when a voice from directly in front of her made her blood run cold.

"Quite the night-owl, aren't we?"

"We are indeed," answered another voice right next to the first. "We'd better be careful, or someone might get…"

"Hurt," finished the first. A look of realization crossed Montgomery's face and she quickly reached across the table and pulled the invisibility cloak off of a snickering James and Sirius.

"You should have seen the look on your face," said James, sitting down beside her and slapping her a little forcefully on the back.

"Like you'd seen a ghost or something," laughed Sirius, picking up a nearby letter and reading it aloud. "Dear Mum, last week I jinxed your hairbrush to squirt blue ink everywhere."

"Quite the little prankster, you are," said James.

"Indeed," agreed Sirius.

"I just like to make things interesting…" started Montgomery innocently, but Sirius held up a hand, not unlike Dumbledore had done that morning.

"It was a little _too_ interesting at breakfast, if you catch my drift," he interrupted with a solemn look on his face.

"_Far_ too interesting, if you ask me," added James. "We're all about having fun, but stripping us down to our knickers on the first day? Too fast."

"Too fast, too _soon_," sighed Sirius. "We're going to need you to tone it down a notch to keep things friendly." James nodded enthusiastically and reached out for another letter. "Dear Dad, before I left, I trained your razor to shave off your left eyebrow every second Tuesday."

"We'll have to remember that one, we will," said Sirius, taking the letter and pocketing it. "You've been rather quiet, Miss Monty. Don't you have anything to say? Words of…retaliation? Negotiation? Condemnation?"

"Well," said Montgomery in what she hoped was a defeated voice, "I think you two have just about summed it up." She stood up slowly. "Now, if you will excuse me, gentlemen, I need to get some beauty sleep." And she turned swiftly, walking up towards the girls' dorms.

"That you do, Monty. That you do," Sirius winked as the two boys headed up to their own dorm.

Lingering at the door, Montgomery watched as they disappeared into the dorms. Alone again, she couldn't help but smirk to herself. _All is fair in love and war, boys. And the war is on._ With one final chuckle, she closed the door behind her and jumped into bed, falling asleep almost instantly with a smile on her face.

The fun was far from over.


	3. The Greatest Prank

With their new agreement to lay off each other, several weeks passed without incident.

Well, that's not entirely true. Hogwarts was currently going through some of the strangest and most frequent pranks it had ever seen. One morning, as the students walked down to breakfast, they noticed that the overcast ceiling wasn't raining water, but…toilet remnants. A few evenings later, anyone who had the misfortune of sampling the pork chops became inexplicably infatuated with Professor McGonagall.

It was anyone's guess as to who was the culprit of these amusing crimes, but some teachers had their suspicions. It was often the topic of debate in the staff room, and rumors were flying that there was a bet between Professors Slughorn and Flitwick concerning when he/she or it would get caught.

Meanwhile, Montgomery and her friends settled into their new life at the school. Lily and Severus quickly rose to the top of their Potions class, and both were willing to help Montgomery climb with them as her short attention span prevented her from having any natural talent in the class. She was, however, particularly adept at Charms, a subject in which her father had enjoyed particular success back in his school days. Whenever Lily was looking for her, Montgomery could be found in Professor Flitwick's office, borrowing extra books or discussing the day's lesson.

Of course, there was always the midnight romp around school grounds when Montgomery was itching for adventure. When Lily wasn't up for it (she was often worried about breaking school rules) Montgomery would take Janis. Being the successor to three rambunctious brothers seemed to give her a larger craving for danger than anyone Montgomery had met thus far at the school.

She wasn't the only one making friends and getting into trouble. Sirius and James had taken to hanging out with two of their roommates; Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. When they began being seen together, Lily would go on rants about how, "That Lupin boy is too smart for toerags like that!" Of course, it was anyone's guess as to why the three of them spent _any_ time with that mousy-haired Peter fellow. Even he seemed surprised to be included in their gang.

Yes, nothing had happened between Montgomery and the "Marauders" as they dubbed themselves, since that first morning, but tensions were being wound up. None of the four boys could go anywhere without being tripped by a suit of armor (with whom, Montgomery had a special affinity) nor could _she _go anywhere without getting things thrown at her by someone hiding under an invisibility cloak. Lily, of course, thought they were just being their "usual prats" since Montgomery still hadn't admitted to stripping Sirius and James in front of the entire school. Janis was the only one she confided in, as well as her sole partner in crime.

So, as Halloween drew near, the castle itself seemed to take in a giant breath, anticipating the prank that the parties involved must have schemed.

"Drat, I'm still having trouble with this charm," said Lily as she flicked her wand at the book she was trying to levitate and it shuddered feebly. Montgomery, who had mastered the spell after about three seconds in class, was busy balancing herself on her head, letting all her blood rush towards the ground. "Would you stop fooling around and help me?" she asked, frustrated. With a sigh, she straightened herself up and walked over to her short-tempered friend.

"I don't know why you don't get it. You've studied the principle well enough and you can do just about everything else in the class…" began Montgomery in a bored tone as she pointed to the book and it rose a few feet off the table.

"Not everything is about studying, you know. And besides, you hardly ever open a book," Lily said as she rolled her eyes.

"I'm not even sure I know how to read anymore," Montgomery added, shaking her head solemnly. "It's not like riding a bike you know." She grabbed her Potions book and flopped down onto one of the chairs nearest the fireplace in the common room. She opened it and began to read, pretending not to realize that it was upside-down. As Lily continued to practice, the four Marauders came tumbling in through the portrait-hole with proud smiles on their faces.

"Slughorn won't get off the toilet for a _week_ after drinking that meade," laughed Peter eagerly. Lily looked up disapprovingly, obviously annoyed that they had been tormenting a teacher who was particularly fond of her.

"Off doing another one of your stupid pranks again, are we?" she asked sharply. James sat down next to Montgomery and put his arms behind his head casually.

"Don't know what you're talking about, Evans. We'd never do a _stupid_ prank," he said with a smirk. Sirius sat in an armchair opposite him.

"Give me a break. The ceiling raining shit? Who else would do something like that," she accused, turning back determinedly to the grounded book. Montgomery took the opportunity to practice her innocent face.

"That wasn't us," retorted Sirius sincerely, "there's some other git running around with too much time on his hands." He caught Montgomery's eye and raised his eyebrows expectantly. Remus, who had been leaning next to James's chair, checked his watch and gave a little jump.

"I've…eh…gotta go to the library," he explained shakily before running out of the common room without another word. James and Sirius looked at each other with concern.

"That's the second time he's done that since school started," James said in a hushed tone.

"Maybe he's just tired of hanging around you lot all the time," said Lily without looking up. Sirius stared at her gravely, lost in his own thoughts before he stood up suddenly.

"Nonsense, we're the stars of the school," he said cheerfully, putting his arms playfully around James's shoulder. "Right, Peter?" he asked, to which he receive a very enthusiastic nod. Montgomery chose this moment to whisper "Waddiwasi" and sent the still un-levitated book through the air to hit Sirius with a thump…where it hurts. As he bent over, cursing at her in pain (James and Peter were laughing) the portrait hole opened again and Janis walked through. She looked a little confused.

"Did you guys see Lupin? He just went running by me, seemed ill or something," she asked before tapping Montgomery on the shoulder. "Anyway, we still going into the forest tonight?" Everyone grew quiet at this and looked at them with wide eyes (with the exception of Sirius, who was still muttering something like "won't be able to have children after this"). She was about to reply when Lily interrupted her, looking angry.

"I know you like having a good time, but _honestly_, you could get yourselves killed going in there!" she chastised.

"We're getting bored of going around the hallways. They're usually completely empty, and there's only so many times you can go through a secret passageway before it gets boring," whined Montgomery as Lily continued to fume.

"Besides," continued Janis, "we're not going _far_, we just wanna get a feel for it."

"Can we come?" piped in Sirius suddenly. James and Peter looked at him, bewildered. "I…I mean, you guys are gonna need some protection, right?" he asked, trying to cover his keenness. He wasn't fooling Montgomery.

"Wanna get in on the action, eh?" she asked with a knowing smile. Sirius looked down at the floor, thinking for a second.

"If you let us come…we'll stop throwing crap at you," he said finally. James looked as though he were about to protest, but Montgomery grabbed at the opportunity.

"Sure, I mean, it's not like we could stop you guys anyway, you've got that ruddy cloak." With an annoyed sigh, James pulled the silvery material from his back pocket and went to throw it over the three remaining Marauders. However, Peter backed away from him quickly, shaking his head in fear.

"I…I'm not going. Haven't you heard? There are werewolves in there!" he said, wide-eyed.

"Suit yourself," said James. "If he's not coming, one of you could probably fit under here," he suggested. Janis stepped forward and squeezed herself between the two boys before the three of them vanished under the cloak. Montgomery looked at Lily hopefully, but she also refused the invitation.

"If you want to go and get yourself eaten by something, that's your bloody right. I'm going to bed." And with that, she stomped off, looking quite upset. Montgomery lamented her friend's opinion of her antics, but there was no turning back now that Sirius and James were involved. With a tap to her head, she seemed to trickle into the floor and the four of them walked out into the hall.

"I had been curious, Monty, how you've been getting around the school undetected," said Sirius as they carefully opened the front door and headed out into the night. The brightness of the full moon made the forest seem even more foreboding as they reached its edge and peered through the trees warily.

"We can still go back if you like," said James, sounding apprehensive. Sirius scoffed and was about to take the first step in but was pushed aside as Montgomery rushed passed him into the dark unknown.

"After you then," he said bitterly and he ushered James and Janis forward. The four of them walked in silence deep into the forest, jumping at small noises and laughing nervously afterwards. After a while, Montgomery stopped hearing the others' footsteps behind her.

"Janis?" she whispered into the night as she stopped walking. "James? Sirius?" As her calls went unanswered, Montgomery's heart skipped a few beats. She tapped her head and reemerged next to a gnarled tree. "Sirius Black, if you're there, I'm going to hex you into the next century!" she shouted loudly, turning back towards the direction she thought the school was in. She whispered "lumos" and continued on, hoping that the others would find their way.

After passing the same gnarled tree for the third time, Montgomery was really starting to panic. She was going in circles, and the others had yet to be seen. She wondered vaguely if they had even realized she was gone. The sound of an animal howling, probably miles away, made her skin prickle, and she thought back to what Peter had said about werewolves. A sudden rustling from behind her made her jump ten feet in the air. Afraid to turn around, she stood as still as she could, listening to the noise growing louder and louder.

Finally, when two crashing "thumps" that could only be footsteps of some unimaginable monster echoed directly behind her, Montgomery let out an ear-piercing cry and ran, quickly disappearing in the thick forest. "Montgomery…that you?" said a familiar voice. Hagrid peered through the trees, but by then she was too far away to hear him. He shrugged and continued on his way.

By the time Montgomery reached the edge of the forest, it was almost 3:00, and she still hadn't seen any of her friends. Again casting the Disillusionment Charm on herself, she headed back into the castle, out of breath and exhausted. As she reached the portrait of the Fat Lady and whispered the password, she saw the form of Remus Lupin making his way up the opposite staircase. She lingered at the open frame and startled him when she asked, "And where have you been?" He quickly recognized her voice and mumbled something about falling asleep in the library before quickly rushing past her invisible body into the common room. Montgomery wasn't one to pry, but she couldn't help but wonder what was going on with that kid. He looked like he'd had just as bad a night as she had.

By the next morning, Montgomery was beside herself with worry for James, Sirius and Janis. She'd barely gotten any sleep and got up early to rush down to the Great Hall only to be intercepted by Lily on the staircase. "Lily, sorry, have you seen Janis?" Her friend tapped her foot irritably but finally pointed over to the Gryffindor table. Relief washed over Montgomery as she saw the slumped forms of Janis, James and Sirius, obviously as worn out as she was. However, rejuvenated by them…well, being alive, she skipped merrily down to the table and sat down next to Sirius.

"Rough night?" she said happily, forking some eggs onto her plate. The three of them nodded.

"We didn't even realize you weren't with us until we got to breakfast," Janis muttered as she continued to rest her head on her arm. Montgomery's eyes widened.

"You were out _all night_?" she asked, shocked.

"A unicorn chased Sirius around for a good few hours and by then we were completely lost," James continued, lifting his head briefly to drink some orange juice. Montgomery looked at Sirius sympathetically as fell completely off of the bench. None of them moved to help him back up.

"If Hagrid hadn't showed up, we'd still be i…in there," Janis said through a yawn as she stood, stretching. "I'm gonna go…bathe, and then sleep for about ten days." With that, she walked off towards the stairs, avoiding Lily who seemed determined to tell at least one of them off. The three of them sat in silence (well, Sirius was lying on the floor), taking the occasional bite of toast, before standing up to go to Potions.

Remus was conspicuously absent from class, and as they worked on their assignments, Montgomery sent an airplane over to Sirius. _I saw Lupin when I got back. It had to be after 3:00 and he looked like crap. What's up with him?_ Sirius didn't respond, but he definitely looked alarmed by the news and turned to whisper to James quietly.

After a long day of classes, Sirius, James and Montgomery made their war slowly up the stairs into their respective dorms and collapsed onto their beds. Needless to say, there was no great Halloween prank that night.


	4. Snuffles

**So I broke my laptop Monday and was, naturally, distraught. But then my second uncle twice removed came over and fixed it in like...three seconds. This is a celebratory chapter, and I will hopefully write another one or two soon. Note: there are some magical creatures and such that I mention. There are real, created by J.K. Rowling herself. Some of the chapter near the end might seem a little far-fetched, but honestly! So few students read that book I don't think it's that hard to believe. And I can just picture Hermione keeping all this to herself just to spite Harry, to tell you the truth.**

* * *

James, Sirius, Janis and Montgomery welcomed the cold, wet weather that blew in as November began. It gave them an excuse not to go into the forest again. Not like anything terrible had happened, but they had definitely been spooked out of their midnight wanderings for a while. Lily had taken to glaring at them all in the common room and clucking her tongue impatiently, as if waiting for them to dare try and sneak out again just so she could tell them off. She had the misfortune of doing this late one evening while watching Montgomery struggle with her Potions essay.

"Would you stop it already?" she hissed irritably, catching her friend off guard. "As if I don't feel bad enough for being so reckless for no real reason." Montgomery was having a particularly bad day, as she had accidentally set Professor Slughorn's best dragon-skin loafers on fire with one of her more wild (and inaccurate) concoctions and had thus been assigned extra homework in her worst class. Lily looked at her apologetically.

"I'm sorry, it's just…I wish you wouldn't act so much like them," she nodded towards the four boys.

"Hey, don't put me on their level," laughed Montgomery, trying to make up for her sour attitude. "_I_ never get caught." It was true, while Montgomery had continued playing little pranks on the school (her favorite thus far had been setting loose about a hundred doxies in the teachers' lounge), she had yet to be discovered. Aside from Dumbledore (who she suspected could read minds) all of the teachers thought her a relatively bright, cheery child who was reasonably well-mannered and behaved. The Marauders, on the other hand, insisted on showing off in class and bragging in the halls for all the teachers to hear. Lily muttered something about, "toerags" before leaning over to help Montgomery with her Potions essay.

By the time Christmas Break came around, Montgomery was sad to be leaving the castle, even if it would only be for a couple weeks. But her parents had insisted that she return home. Lily suggested that she and Severus come visit, as she had never been in a real Wizarding family's house before. Although Montgomery had thought about telling her that it really wasn't that interesting, she was eager to spend more time with her friends. Janis, unfortunately, already had plans to visit one of her cousins in Spain and would be unable to join them.

Christmas morning was particularly bright as Montgomery looked out her window eagerly. It had snowed the night before, leaving a thick coat of white over the lawn. Several colorfully wrapped presents sat at the end of her bed and she reached over to begin opening them. She laughed at the first gift; a second-hand version of "Potions for Prats." Apparently, he was getting tired of being asked every two seconds for help. Lily had given her what seemed like a simple gray carpet with blue and purple polka dots. There was a note attached:

_Figure out how to charm this thing into the air. I've heard flying carpets are illegal in Britain, but it sounds like lots of fun._

_Lily_

Looking forward to working on it later, Montgomery turned to the rest of her gifts. Her parents had gotten her a basket full of Honeyduke's best as well as a silver charm bracelet that turns the wearer temporarily into a five year old (_We miss being able to pick you up to give you a hug_, explained the card attached). Her uncle gave her a set of magical bath soaps ("Bubbles never pop!") and candles ("The Sounds and Smells of the Ocean, all in one ball of wax!"). Finally, her grandmother had given her a small, red and gold diary, which also had a note:

_To remember the best years of your life, I give you this journal to write your most secret of secrets so you can look back and laugh at them someday._

_Love,_

_Grammy_

Overall, it was one of her better Christmases, but the greatest gift of all was set to arrive that evening in her fireplace.

"Wow, it's amazing!" Lily exclaimed as she wiped the soot off of her muggle outfit and looked around the kitchen in awe. Montgomery laughed. As far as wizarding families went, her house was pretty average. Sure, many of the dishes were washing themselves, the family's pet diricawl, Caesar, was curled up in the middle of the dining table, and her mother was stitching up a tear in some robes while simultaneously pouring herself a glass of brandy with her wand.

She saw the bored look in Severus's eye and knew he was thinking the same thing. Initially, Montgomery had wondered why Severus even bothered going home for break. From what she had ascertained, he didn't get along very well with his parents. But she suspected that he had feelings for Lily, deeper than their oblivious friend was willing to accept, and had just wanted to spend time with her.

For the last few days of break, Montgomery, Lily and Severus were inseparable. They spent long nights talking about classes (Severus had an eery passion for Dark Arts and talked about it incessantly). They also entertained several hours on new ways to torture the Marauders. Severus had, as of late, had a particularly bad relationship with them as they had taken to hexing him in the hallway for being a, "greasy git," as Sirius explained. Thus, his suggestions were particularly cruel.

When the students returned to Hogwarts a few days later, winter began raging, and it became impossible for anyone to venture outside. Montgomery began growing restless as she watched snow being pounded against the window in her Transfiguration class. She had been behaving herself under Lily's watchful eye since break and was eager to blow up something, hex someone, or at the very least, annoy a teacher. If only she could get into Hogsmeade...but it was for third years and up and she doubted she could find a secret passageway out of the castle by then…

McGonagall was yelling at Sirius and James again, but Montgomery couldn't quite hear what it was about as she was still lost in her thoughts about sneaking to Zonkos. She did, however, definitely catch words like "rabbit" and "engorgio" that were only slightly interesting until Lily elbowed her in the ribs to catch her attention.

"What was that?" she asked politely, always keeping up her innocent front. Lily pointed to her left and Montgomery turned to see what honestly looked like a…werebunny. It was obviously the victim of a poorly executed engorgement charm and was swollen to the size of a small desk, but its eyes and teeth were far too big for its body, thus giving it a very menacing appearance. With a look of pleading in its eyes, the poor creature nudged her left hand, which held her wand casually. She whispered "reducio" and held the rabbit in her arms gently once it was normal sized, turning back to the scene that was taking place in front of the class.

"What exactly did you think you were doing? You could have _killed _the poor thing!" McGonagall shouted in a raspy voice. Sirius and James suppressed grins as they chanced a glance at each other. She glared at them. "What exactly did you _not _understand about my instructions? All you had to do was change the rabbit into a hare!"

"But you see professor," began Sirius sweetly, "that just seemed like a rather boring thing to do to a rabbit." Montgomery thought vaguely that McGonagall looked like she was about to light him on fire.

"Detention. Both of you. For a week." It seemed as though her fury had taken away her ability to form full sentences. McGonagall looked over at Remus sternly, who was, at the moment, hiding behind his book, as if to say, "This is all your fault," before walking calmly (albeit, very stiffly) back to her desk.

"I think I'll call him…Snuffles," said Montgomery later that day as she cuddled with her new pet. In her rage, McGonagall had failed to realize that she was missing a rabbit after class. Janis rolled her eyes and went back to writing a letter to her father, who had sent her an early Valentine's Day card and chocolates. "Anyway, you wouldn't happen to know a secret passageway to Hogsmeade, would you?"

"Please, Montgomery, you've been everywhere in this castle that I have, and in some cases, more. Even with the few tunnels and stuff we've come across, we could never find one in time for next Hogsmeade visit." Montgomery set Snuffles down and he hobbled off towards Sirius, who he had grown fond of for some strange reason, to nibble on his robes. With a sigh, she stood up, stretched, and told Janis she was going to the library.

Unsurprisingly, Lily was sitting at one of the tables, pouring over some book about Transfiguring animals. She'd insisted that her rabbit-turned-hare's ears weren't long enough and whenever in doubt, go to the library! However, even Madam Pince let out a little gasp of surprise as Montgomery carefully made her way over to the shelves and pulled out a thick, dusty volume. _Hogwarts, a History_.

Hardly any students dared to pick up this book, and even less dared to pick it up, "for some light reading," explained Montgomery as she plopped herself next to Lily, whose mouth was agape. She flipped offhandedly to the chapter entitled, "The Ins and Outs of Hogwarts" and began to read intently. Lily surmised what her friend was up to and couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"Please, if that book had all the secrets of Hogwarts, students would never put it down," she said in an exasperated voice as she turned back to her own book. Montgomery flipped a page.

"No one ever reads this book," she droned without looking up.

"How can you be sure?" Lily retorted playfully. Montgomery thought about calling over Madam Pince from where she was seated, but assumed that wouldn't bode well with her image. So, she lifted up the book gingerly and walked over to the beady old woman herself.

"Madam Pince," she asked in her most charming, quiet voice. "When was the last time this book was taken out of the library?" The librarian raised her eyebrows suspiciously before turning her attention to the item at hand. She flipped through some pages that lay scattered on her desk before looking up at Montgomery with a frown.

"Never." Montgomery couldn't help but smile as she returned back to her seat next to Lily. The two sat in silence for a while before Montgomery stood up suddenly with a small cry of triumph. Lily looked at her friend in amazement.

"You actually found something?" she asked inquiringly.

"Not _some_ thing. _The _thing. I've found a way into Hogsmeade!" she whispered excitedly. Without saying another word, Montgomery grabbed Lily's hand and pulled her towards the library door.

"_Although several historians have searched avidly for secret passageways in and out of Hogwarts, few have actually been found_," read Montgomery from _Hogwarts, A History_ half an hour later in their dorm. "_However_," she continued, "_they are nearly certain that there is a tunnel leading directly into Honeydukes. It seems that even over one thousand years ago, there was a sweet shop placed directly in the same location. As you are all aware, Rowena Ravenclaw had an unusually undeniable sweet tooth that could not be contained. Thus, when the school was being built, she made sure that there was a direct passage from Hogwarts to Hogsmeade. Found behind the statue of a one-eyed witch on the third floor, all she had to do was say 'dissendium' and tap the obtrusive hump which opened instantly to a tunnel leading into the basement of the shop_."

Lily stared at her for a moment, and Montgomery was unable to read her. "I can't believe that was in a book in the library," she said after a while.

"So, you up for it?" asked Montgomery.

"Up for what?"

"Going into Hogsmeade for Valentine's Day. Most of the school's going anyway, they won't notice a couple first years in Zonkos." Lily looked apprehensive at first but only took a few minutes to convince.

"It's a date then," Montgomery said, laughing as she collapsed back on her bed.


	5. Too Far

The morning of the Hogsmeade trip began rather enjoyably as, right when James and Sirius were walking down the steps, Montgomery whispered a quaint little switching spell on the trick step. Sirius's leg sank right through what he thought was a normal stair just as she whispered the counter spell. Try as he did to pull it out (James was too busy laughing), it would not be moved and a flustered McGonagall had to be summoned to get him out. Lily and Montgomery had a good laugh about it as they headed back to their dormitory. They'd decided to wait until most of the school had cleared out before going to Hogsmeade to assure it was good and crowded.

When the two popped their heads out of the Honeydukes cellar, they were met by the hustle and bustle of dozens of students wandering about the room above them. Assured that they would have enough coverage to continue, they made their way upstairs and sure enough, there was barely enough space to move it was so crowded, much less to notice a couple eleven year olds wondering around.

Lily bought some Ice mice and Levitating Sherbet Balls while Montgomery purchased several Sugar Quills, Pumpkin Pasties and a handful of Cockroach Clusters. They made their way out of the shop and headed quickly for Zonkos to escape the chilly February wind. Montgomery thought she had died and gone to heaven when she saw shelves upon shelves of every kind of prank-related toy anyone could hope for.

"I think you're drooling a little, Monty," whispered a voice that was very, _very_ close to her left ear. She jumped a little before realizing that it must be Sirius under the cloak.

"Thought you'd sneak out, have a little fun?" asked another voice on Lily's right that had to belong to James. Montgomery pulled Lily along towards the shelves, not wanting to waste a moment without buying something. She was just picking up some parchment that catches fire once the assignment written on it is almost finished when she felt Sirius step next to her again.

"Do us a favor and buy us some stuff, Monty?" he asked in a mockingly innocent voice. She felt a bag of money being forced into her hand, but she pushed it away gently.

"No way. If you're too much of a coward to come out of there then you don't _deserve_ anything," she said in an annoyed tone as she grabbed the parchment and walked quickly over to another shelf, dragging Lily with her.

"Where do you come off? You could just about pass as a third year boy since you're so tall," whispered James hastily as they followed the girls through the crowded shop. "And how did you get here, anyway? Without anyone seeing you?" Montgomery rolled her eyes and headed for the counter, her arms filled with stink pellets, itching socks and a blow dryer that actually blows fire when used ("For That Singed Look All Your Friends Are Drying For!"). Without another word to Sirius and James, they walked back into the stinging cold.

It seemed that just hearing the boys' voices had put Lily off of her rebellious mood and she agreed almost too quickly to just go back to Hogwarts rather than head into the Three Broomsticks for refreshments ("They have a secret stash of butterbeer in the kitchens, anyway," assured Montgomery).

February turned to March, and March to April. The weather was becoming much more enjoyable, although it did rain quite a bit. Unfortunately, that meant that some students (a.k.a. Lily) insisted that they begin studying for finals, which were a mere few weeks away. To avoid these sessions, Montgomery had cast a particularly strong Impervius Charm on an umbrella, and her and Janis used it to ensure they stay dry as the wandered around outside, blatantly ignoring their school duties. On some occasions, they'd come across the Marauders, who seemed on a never-ending quest to feed Severus to the Giant Squid. Montgomery would always try to help him from the lake, sputtering and furious, but one glimpse of Janis and he would high-tail it back to the castle without a word of thanks.

As more and more students around her insisted on taking class seriously, Montgomery grew more bold in her pranks. One day, she slid a couple stink pellets under the rim of McGonagall's robes and asked everyone around her if they smelled anything. McGonagall grew red, obviously under the impression that she had released some unwonted flatulence and excused herself to go to the bathroom. Another day, right under the nose of Professor Slughorn, she shot an extra "Incendio" in the direction of Sirius's cauldron. The extra heat was too much for his potion to handle, causing it to explode in his face. As he cried out in pain, Slughorn rushed over and insisted that James escort him to the hospital wing.

Slughorn rounded on Montgomery, who had turned back to her potion with a determined look on her face. When it became impossible to ignore his angry sputtering any longer, she looked up innocently and said, "Yes, Professor?"

"Are you responsible for Mr. Black's potion exploding?" he asked looking down at her accusingly over his many chins. She shook her head, trying to look insulted.

"Then can you explain to me, Miss Finkle, how it happened?"

"Of course not, Professor. It's not my fault if the poor boy is inadequate in some of his… classes." She looked down again at her own potion. What was supposed to be a golden yellow anti-anger brew was currently hissing at her furiously as it turned a dark shade of violet. Montgomery chanced a glance at Lily, who was having trouble controlling her smirk. Slughorn waddled back to his desk, whispering something like, "_He's_ not the only one," before sitting down crossly.

That night, Montgomery climbed into the common room, annoyed that Lily had refused to leave the library. Even though there was barely a spot to sit down, it was eerily quiet as students spread across the floor, the chairs and the tables, studying intently. Only the Marauders, who had snagged a spot next to the fire, seemed to have forgotten that finals were fast approaching. James and Sirius had apparently grabbed some food from the kitchens and were eating some mysterious-looking meat as Peter and Remus looked on, frowning slightly.

As Montgomery drew closer, she noticed with a little smirk that Sirius's face was covered in some sort of white, healing cream. However, as she caught a glimpse of what they were eating, she suddenly lunged forward and grabbed the boy by the collar mid-bite.

"That better not be what I _think_ it is, Black!" she hissed furiously as she pulled him roughly off of his chair to his feet. Sirius took another greedy bite and smiled.

"I'm certain I don't know what you are talking about," he said jovially. "We just found this poor rabbit wandering around the common room and decided to have ourselves a little snack." Montgomery shook him violently, tears now threatening to drop from her eyes.

"This better be a fucking joke, you sick prat!" she yelled, ignoring the whispers of her fellow Gryffindors as they stopped studying to watch.

"If there's one thing us Marauders don't joke about, it's food," he said, not noticing how blatantly upset she was. With a hard shove, she let him go and ran up the stairs into her dorm with a cry of rage, leaving Sirius bewildered and the object of many angry calls and glares from around the room. Montgomery jumped onto her bed, facedown and let out an angry sob.

"Montgomery?" Janis said uncertainly from her bed. She didn't respond, but she turned around to lie on her back and stare at the ceiling. "Are you _crying_?" Montgomery hated herself for being so sensitive about a pet, but Snuffles had just been so cute! Whenever she was writing an essay, Snuffles would climb up into her lap and pretend to read it. Whenever Lily was off studying and Janis was off doing who knows what, Snuffles was there to play fetch with Cockroach Clusters or go for a walk around school. Snuffles had probably just gone right up to Sirius, he was just so god-damn _trusting_.

A high-pitched wail stopped the montage that was spinning in her head, and Montgomery sat up, confused. "What was that?"

"Oh," Janis said with a gleeful smile. "One of the fourth years was telling me about _that_. Apparently, guys can't come up to the girls' dorms or the stairs scream and turn into a slide." Montgomery got up carefully and peaked out the door. Sure enough, the stairs had gone slick and at the bottom was a heap of human flesh and bone that could only be Sirius. He was muttering angrily about getting his face-cream messed up when he looked up to see Montgomery staring at him.

"Uh," he said hesitantly as he stood up, brushing himself off. "I didn't expect you to be such a _girl_ about it." He put his hand in the pocket of his robes and pulled out a huge fluffy rabbit. "It was just a joke…James transfigured that lamb to look…" Sirius was cut off as Montgomery ran forward, forgetting there were no stairs, and slid quickly down towards him, knocking them both off their feet. She grabbed Snuffles and nuzzled her face into his fur, breathing deeply and happily. Sirius looked relieved that he wasn't going to get anymore punishment, but didn't get to celebrate long as Montgomery looked away from her beloved rabbit for a moment to slug him right across the face.

"You better not do anything like this again," she said in a whisper that sent shivers down his spine. "The difference between life and death is where _I _draw the line, and I'll be expecting the same of you four unless you want to end up at the bottom of the lake!" With a final "huff" she waved her wand to return the stairs to their natural state and stomped up to her dormitory.

"Girls, mate," sighed James slinging his arm lazily over Sirius's shoulder as the door slammed shut behind Montgomery.

They both looked curiously up at the girls' dorm for a moment of indecisive silence before turning back to the common room to finish their meal.


	6. The Truce

**This is the longest chapter 'cuz near the end, I decided just to do an overview of the next couple years. I mean, the story woulda just been dull otherwise. Plus, I wanna get to the one of the larger storylines in this particular story. I am rather excited about it, as it is designed to bring Sirius and Montgomery closer together. I gave you some interesting pranks, though. Okay, so I've been doing research and as far as I could ascertain, the Marauders were all able to transform by fifth year. Lupin said it took them about three years, so I figure they started doing research second year. I thought James was a Seeker, since he was playing with a snitch and all (plothole much?) but I've been informed that he was, in fact, a chaser. Basically all of these spells I did not make up, Jo did. Yadda yadda yadda. OMG can't believe I am going off to college in four days! Advice anyone?**

**Don't own anything, enjoy!**

* * *

By the time Montgomery had forgiven the Marauders, finals had come and gone. Bags were packed. Goodbyes were said. Montgomery was walking down a corridor with a skip, thinking about her invitation to the Evans' summer house in France. It was late, she had been having one last chat with the house elves in the kitchens (she had grown rather fond of them during her many late-night visits) and she wasn't expecting to run into anyone. As she passed the abandoned Transfiguration classroom, however, Montgomery heard raised voices and stopped to listen.

"You're not in this alone mate, you've got us," said a voice that Montgomery recognized as James.

"You don't understand, you don't know how people react when they hear…what I am!" argued another that she realized was Remus. Montgomery felt that perhaps this wasn't a good conversation to be eavesdropping on, but stood still out of mere curiosity. She'd had her own theories about Remus's disappearances every month, but wasn't really close enough to him to confront him about them.

"You are nothing more than Remus J. Lupin, sorry to break it to you," chuckled Sirius, who was obviously just trying to alleviate the situation.

"But..."

"We won't hear any more about it, Moony," piped up a squeaky voice that belonged to Peter.

"Stop calling me that!" Remus cried. He sounded on the brink of tears from sheer frustration. Montgomery also mused that it wasn't the most comforting thing to be cornered by James and Sirius.

"This is no more than a…a furry little problem. We've all discussed it and we have a solution," James added in a soothing but determined.

"It could take months…years even to pull it off, but James and I are pretty certain that we can manage…" said Sirius rather excitedly.

"What the hell are you _talking_ about?!" cried Remus.

"Of course, Peter may need a little nudge here and there…" continued James, but Montgomery had heard enough. She backed slowly away from the door and pushed on a discolored spot on the wall behind her. A secret passageway (that she and Janis had discovered one night when they'd almost been caught by a rather ill-tempered Ravenclaw prefect) leading right to the portrait of the Fat Lady opened up before her and she stepped inside.

As she walked hurriedly down the dark tunnel, Montgomery could barely keep herself from whooping for joy. This was the stuff of which legends were made. A bond that was, surely, stronger than any magic that she could ever be taught at the school. And she felt blessed just to witness the Marauders' loyalty to their friend. When she finally made it past the Fat Lady ("What the devil are you always doing out so late?"), Montgomery jumped enthusiastically onto one of the squishy armchairs near the now extinguished fireplace and drifted lazily to sleep, thinking of what it must be like to have such great friends.

Not much later, she awoke to cries of surprise and frustration coming from the boys' dormitory and realized that in her exhaustion, she had forgotten about the booby traps she and Janis had set up after the end-of-term feast. As soon as the Marauders had walked through the door, they had undoubtedly been hoisted up in the air by their ankles courtesy of a twist on the "Incarcerous" spell that Montgomery had thought up that afternoon and wanted to try.

She ran up the stairs and had to use all of her willpower to keep from laughing at the scene before her. James, Sirius and Remus were upside down and hanging from ropes protruding from the ceiling that had caught onto their ankles. James and Sirius were arguing about the best way to get themselves down while Remus spun slowly in a circle looking incredibly disgruntled with his arms crossed in front of him. Meanwhile, Peter had avoided the trap but and was running around underneath them, tugging feebly at their robes.

Montgomery stepped through the threshold and muttered "diffindo" as she pointed her wand at the ropes. The three boys came crashing down, but luckily had Peter to break their fall. All of the commotion had caused a few of the older boys to come stumbling worriedly out of their own dorms, but they retreated, irritated, when they saw it was just the Marauders and that "Finkle girl" up to their usual trouble.

Sirius and James looked up, shocked that Montgomery had actually saved them from her own prank. But Sirius recovered quickly enough and scrambled to his feet.

"Do you always have to be so annoying?" he asked with a touch of anger in his voice as he glared at her. Montgomery looked at him, pretending to be deeply crushed.

"This is the thanks I get for saving you?"

"_Saving_?! You call tying us up in our own dorms only to cut us down so we fall on top of Peter 'saving'?!" At this, Montgomery could barely contain a smirk, which enraged Sirius even more. "You attack us _all_ year with unprovoked pranks and then you go laugh about it with that greaseball, Snape and that snitty Evans brat!"

"Hey," cut in James, who was still pathetically jumbled on the floor, "She's not snitty." Sirius looked at him as if he'd lost his mind.

"What the heck are you…" but Montgomery stopped him.

"Okay, firstly, he's right. Lily can be a bit high-strung at times, but she's also funny and smart and an amazing friend. Secondly, I told you from the beginning that it was all in good fun, and _you're _the one that had to make it personal. But I've forgiven and moved on." Sirius looked like he wanted to interrupt, but she continued. "Now, if you four want to be pansies about it, I suppose we could call some sort of truce, but honestly, it would make life incredibly boring around here."

After her somewhat long-winded speech, the boys didn't really seem to know what to make of it. Montgomery wasn't even sure Remus had been listening, he still looked rather annoyed, and his attitude seemed unrelated to the events that were transpiring before him. Sirius and James looked at each other, eyebrows raised and mouths slightly agape.

"Well, we're not saying we want you to stop pranking…" began Sirius slowly after a few moments of uncomfortable silence.

"I mean, that one when you charmed all the Flitterblooms to disco was bloody brilliant," interjected Peter suddenly.

"But really," Sirius continued, "it seems you've been targeting us a lot this year." James nodded in agreement.

"Hey, don't pretend you didn't retaliate," argued Montgomery. "Who else could have put sneezing powder in my asthma medication?" Sirius and James exchanged proud smirks. "Or told everyone I was actually a boy wearing a wig?" She thought she heard Sirius mutter something about "a classic" but ignored him. "Or charmed my quill to shout profanities during class? Or sent me a howler claiming to be from St. Mungo's concerning my 'mental illness'? Or…"

"Regardless," said James finally. "Can't we like…band together or something? Five heads has got to be better than one." Montgomery thought about it for a second, thought back to the conversation she had heard regarding Remus's "furry little problem." Thought about her first day at Hogwarts, how eager she had been to make friends, and how easily she had lost sight of that goal while fulfilling her duties as a prankster. She looked long and hard at James, who seemed to be making a real effort at gaining her trust. At Sirius, who had probably put up with more than any first year deserved from her. At Remus, who struggled with a mysterious secret, but struggled with friends like no other. And at Peter, standing nervously to the side as his idols deliberated with the enemy.

"Well," she said hesitantly, "I guess we can be friends." She stuck her hand out to James, who looked relieved and shook it. Montgomery did the same to the other three before turning towards the door. "It's been a fun year, guys. See you around." As she walked out of the dorm, she was too happy and tired to hear Sirius whisper "glisseo" from behind her. Once her foot touched the first stair, it turned suddenly into a slide and she flew forward, landing unceremoniously on the floor below.

"Sorry, Monty! Couldn't resist!" he shouted as he came running out to laugh. She rolled her eyes but gave him a friendly smile and a wave before making her way towards her own dorm.

The summers dragged on like snails and school went by too fast for Montgomery. Sure, she would holiday with Lily or Janis (spending as much time away from home with her friends as her parents would allow) but Hogwarts was always where she had the most fun. Classes became more interesting and challenging and Montgomery seemed almost as eager to please her teachers and do well as Lily.

When third year rolled around, Montgomery had somehow been tricked into Arithmancy by Lily, but insisted that they also sign up for Care of Magical Creatures, "to get some fresh air," persisted Montgomery. Lily had also signed up for Ancient Runes, but could do nothing to convince her friend to take more than two extra classes. The Marauders were in all of their classes (although Remus was the only one to sign up for Ancient Runes) and Janis had decided to go with Muggle Studies instead.

True to their word, the Marauders and Montgomery basically stopped pulling pranks on one another, and sometimes even teamed up for some of their bigger bits of mischief (Dumbledore always got a giggle remembering the time his entire office had been filled to the brim with Lemon Drops and the Slytherins were none too pleased to wake up one morning to find that their dormitory had been completely sealed off with a permanent-sticking charm). Since James had made the Quidditch team their second year as Chaser, Sirius was often available to help Montgomery pull off some of her larger pranks when his other half was at practice.

Still, there were many things that James, Sirius, Remus and Peter kept from Montgomery. She would often walk into the common room to find them whispering earnestly to each other. Sometimes, she would even be in the library with Lily and see the four of them huddled over books, studying intently. Although she never approached them about it, Montgomery did wonder what they were up to and reasoned that it had something to do with Remus's "furry little problem."

The Marauders pulled their own pranks, too, and were glad to let anyone know about it, resulting in James and Sirius having more detentions by the end of third year than many of the seventh-years put together. Slughorn was particularly displeased when he discovered all of his caterpillars had been replaced with a muggle candy known as "gummy worms" that Sirius had bribed Montgomery to steal from Janis's trunk, which had landed him and James in detention for a good portion of their second year.

Sirius never understood why Montgomery didn't claim the glory for her own pranks (something that he often lectured her about). Whenever this conversation came up, she would always sigh and ignore it. Montgomery knew that Sirius would never understand what it meant to be humble, a lesson that Dumbledore had instilled in her during her first day at Hogwarts.

Janis remained her number-one go-to girl, however, and was always up for wandering around the school. The two had discovered many secret passageways together, which came in handy when they wanted to get to class early to set up a prank. For instance, it took several extra minutes to hide some dungbombs under Flitwick's desk to go off every time he said the word, "charm."

As the years progressed, unfortunately, it seemed that the bond between Severus and Lily dwindled significantly. Although the two talked quite often, Severus seemed to be following in the footsteps of his Slytherin friends. He never missed an opportunity to insult Janis if she was around, and had taken to hexing the Marauders as often as he could (a favor that James and Sirius were only too happy to return). Although Lily wasn't particularly fond of James or Sirius, she was very much disturbed at the path that her friend seemed to be taking, and would often enlist Montgomery (and sometimes Janis) for long rants about "how it made her feel."

Despite the truce, however, there were a few mishaps. After returning from Christmas holiday third year (Lily and Janis had spent most of it at Montgomery's winter home that sat at the edge of the Dead Sea), the three girls walked into their room to discover it completely trashed. James was lying on Lily's bed, reading passages from her diary and Sirius was trying to force Peter into one of Montgomery's bras. Remus was conspicuously absent.

Montgomery found the whole thing quite amusing, but Lily had apparently left her sense of humor on vacation. Shouting a rather hysterical stunning spell, the three boys were quickly out like lights and Lily forced the two girls to help her carry James into the girls' bathroom. Montgomery grew slightly worried when they stopped at a stall that she had discovered could flush rather large objects (she'd used it to flush their other roommate's four-foot tall, singing teddy bear that she'd gotten for Valentine's Day the year before; it had been spotted floating on the lake a few days later, still singing mushy love songs).

"Hold on," she said suddenly, dropped James's shoulders, "you're gonna drown the guy for reading your journal?" Lily nodded furiously.

"Seems like a fair punishment, if you ask me." Montgomery rolled her eyes.

"If you insist on flushing him, I've gotta do _this_," she said, brandishing her wand to cast a bubble-head charm over his head. "Now at least you won't get thrown in Azkaban for murder."

Later that year, Janis had found Bubotuber pus in her Pumpkin Juice and had Montgomery help her decorate the Marauders' dorm with unicorn wallpaper and other unicorn trimmings. When Montgomery asked Janis if she was sure it had been Sirius, she had been surprised to hear that he had asked Janis to Hogsmeade and had been very upset when she blatantly refused. So she had been expecting retaliation.

Overall, it had been a rather interesting couple of years, and as Montgomery stepped off the Hogwarts Express to begin their fourth year, she had a feeling that something big was about to happen.

How right she was.


	7. Into the Depths of Hell

**Montgomery: Why aren't you on the Quidditch team?**

**Sirius: It's below me.**

**Montgomery: As is James, and I meant that exactly how I said it.**

**Sirius: What? We're not freaking gay!**

**Montgomery: Please. You've got that guy whipped, dipped and covered in chocolate syrup.**

**Hah, just a little convo that popped into my head. Anyway, this is the beginning of a rather important storyline. It deals with one of Montgomery's roommates, who is Chinese and I assure you I have done some extensive research on the topic at hand. Some things have been scewed for dramatic effect, of course. But I hope you enjoy it all the same. Um...don't own anything, enjoy!**

* * *

"This is the year, Moony!" laughed Sirius as he clapped Remus on the back at the Feast. Remus rolled his eyes and continued eating his mashed potatoes. "We'll be up and running in no time…"

"Isn't it more 'down and running,' Padfoot, I mean 'cuz…" started Peter, but James cut him off with a glare when he noticed Montgomery trying ever so hard not to eavesdrop next to them.

"So, Monty, how was your summer?" James asked, abruptly changing the subject.

"Pretty good," she said with a sigh. "My parents and I were actually in India for most of it, though. So I didn't get to see my friends as much as I'd have liked to. What about you?"

"Oh, we went to Germany actually. To visit the grave of the Brothers Grimm."

"The what?" asked Sirius curiously, joining in on the conversation.

"Oh, these two guys who wrote all these muggle fairytales. Their grave is supposed to be really haunted."

"Was it?" asked Montgomery with mock enthusiasm.

"Nope, load of old tosh. There were however," he added, trying to catch Lily's eye (who was in _very_ deep conversation with a handsome Gryffindor sixth year next to her) "several attractive girls whom I befriended."

"No kidding," said Sirius, noticing immediately what James was up to. "What were they like?"

"Ah, well, you know how I have a thing for redheads," he said in a very loud voice. "And these two girls in particular, _twins_ in fact, had the biggest set of j-"

"Would you mind not being so vulgar at dinner, Potter?" asked Lily, suddenly leaning over Montgomery and glaring pointedly at James.

"Of course not, love, not if it upsets you so," he said apologetically as he stood up to give her a hug. Lily, however, would have none of that and grabbed Montgomery's arm, pulling her away towards the stairs.

"Christ, _why_ does that guy have to be such a cocky bastard all the time?" she asked to no one in particular as the two girls sat down on their four-poster beds.

"He's just trying to get you to notice him, Lil," said Montgomery monotonously, who had participated in this conversation a hundred times. Almost as many times, in fact, as the "why is Severus turning into an evil prick?" conversation. Unfortunately, Janis was still visiting her sick grandmother in Spain and wasn't here to at least endure the pain with Montgomery.

Just as the two were settling into what was sure to be a very grueling discussion about boys and their feelings, their roommate, Lorraine ran into the room.

"You guys, something's wrong with Alison, Dumbledore just sent me to get you." Lily and Montgomery exchanged worried glances before rushing out the door after her.

When they knocked on Dumbledore's office door, Montgomery was startled to hear loud sobbing coming from the other side. "Enter," said Dumbledore solemnly and the three girls turned the knob and walked inside. Alison was sitting in a chair next to the Headmaster's desk, and Dumbledore was kneeling beside her, whispering words of comfort. Montgomery noticed an open letter in his hand.

"Um…Professor?" she finally said in a whisper. He stood up and looked at the girls, sighing heavily.

"I'm afraid that Miss Hung just received word off her father's passing," he said finally. Lorraine and Montgomery gasped while Lily rushed forward to hug their room mate.

"I'm so sorry, Alison," she cried, putting her arms around Alison's shoulders in a comforting embrace. But Alison shook her head.

"Don't be. My people believe in rebirth. Death is an inevitable step to eternal life," she said in between sobs.

"Oh, well that's…good then?" asked Lily hesitantly, but this had apparently been the wrong thing to say, as Alison grew more hysterical.

"In the letter that her mother wrote," Dumbledore explained, "it seems that Mr. Hung was murdered, but it was made to look like a suicide."

"He's been sentenced to the Chamber of Avici," sniffled Alison. "Even if he is reborn, he will still be in Diyu." Montgomery looked bewildered at Dumbledore for answers.

"The Chamber of Avici is the lowest chamber in Diyu, which is a form of hell. Mr. Hung will be forced to stand on a crowded platform over a fiery inferno, and if he falls off he will simply be reborn onto the platform."

"But…" said Montgomery suddenly, "there must be something we could do." Her own words surprised her. It's not like Alison had been a very close friend over the years, but for some reason she was determined to help Mr. Hung escape his fate. Perhaps it was the thought of her own father being condemned in such a horrible way that urged her to help someone who (despite her horrible habit of spreading rumors and gossip) could still love as a daughter.

Dumbledore looked at her thoughtfully for a minute before coming to a decision. He clapped his hands together rather enthusiastically for the occasion and turned to Lily.

"Miss Evans, would you and Miss Wilson please escort Miss Hung to the Hospital Wing?" he asked. "I must have a word with Miss Finkle." Lily looked up at him questioningly but gently grabbed hold of Alison's arm and pulled her to her feet. As the three girls left, Dumbledore motioned for Montgomery to sit down.

"Now, Miss Finkle, what exactly did you have in mind?" he asked. Montgomery stared at him, at a loss for words.

"Well, I mean…" she stammered. "I was just…I didn't think…"

"Ah, well it just so happens that I have an idea, but it would require going into the very pits of hell." He paused (_for dramatic effect_, thought Montgomery) before continuing. "You would have to appeal to the King of Hell, Himself. Yanlou." Was it Montgomery's imagination, or was there just a flash of lightning?

"Of course, I would understand if you weren't up for the challenge…" he began but was interrupted as Montgomery stood up abruptly. Was she a Gryffindor or was she a Gryffindor?

"I'll do it," she said and she was halfway out the door to get started before she heard Dumbledore call her name from behind.

"Miss Finkle?" She paused. "How exactly were you planning on getting into Diyu? No mere portkey will do. Nor will apparition (even if you _could _apparate from Hogwarts). And as far as great Lord Yanlou, he will not be swayed by just any argument or worldly possession."

"Well," she began thoughtfully. "I have an idea on how to get there, but as far as convincing Yanlou…" she zoned out, wondering exactly how one could persuade a god.

"You will be needing this," he said waving his wand. What seemed to be an ordinary muggle coffee mug appeared in his hand. Montgomery stared at it expectantly. "Teobram Cocoa," he said simply after a few moments of heavy silence. "It gives the drinker temporary divine knowledge and foresight. I happen to know that as of late, Yanlou has become rather jealous of his celestial counterparts, and has been corrupt by greed and desire. He will see this offering as a chance to overtake the gods."

"But…wouldn't that be a bad thing?" Montgomery asked, trying to keep the accusing tone out of her voice.

"Naturally," he said, smiling serenely. "However, once he drinks from the cup, he will see the error of his ways, both in sentencing Miss Hung's father and desiring an upset in the balance of power. A Catch 22 of sorts."

"A what, sir?"

"Oh, it's a muggle book of which I am particularly fond. I highly recommend it. Now, you best run along," he said, a finality in his cheerful tone. "I expect Mr. Black is still at the feast." Montgomery quirked an eyebrow before dismissing his strange perception and running out the door.

As expected, all four of the Marauders were still sitting at the Gryffindor table, having what appeared to be a treacle tart-eating competition. She sat down next to Sirius and waited for him to finish stuffing his face. When his fellow-Marauders fell off of the bench in defeat, he raised his arms in victory, actually standing up and giving a shout of triumph.

"Sirius, can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked quietly, trying not to draw the attention of the other Marauders to herself. Unfortunately, her subtly had the opposite effect.

"Uh-oh, Padfoot, she wants to _talk_," laughed James, nudging his friend in the side suggestively. Montgomery rolled her eyes and pulled Sirius out of the Great Hall. As he wiped the food off of his face with his sleeve, he looked at her expectantly.

"Sirius, I need your help," she began. He raised his eyebrows, confused at her serious tone.

"What is it?" he asked sincerely.

"I need you to take me to the Room of Requirement."


	8. The Descent

**OMG college is fun. Anyway, I overslept this morning and missed most of my creative writing class. So I decided to not go to bed at all tonight, just to be safe. None of the stories I am following are updating (I assume they are all as busy as I am with school) so I decided to take pity on the few who follow my story (which I love btw) and update. Hope you all like it! R&R!**

**p.s. Thursday is a big party night at my school, and even though it is after 3 am I can still hear drunk people wandering outside my room. Creepy.**

* * *

"The Room of Requirement?" Sirius asked, surprised. "How do you…"

"I heard Nearly-Headless Nick talking about it with one of the other ghosts. And a couple of house-elves have mentioned it in passing."

"And what exactly makes you think I know where it is?" Montgomery rolled her eyes.

"Come on, if anyone in this school knows, it's you."

"Oh, well then," he said sarcastically but Montgomery gave him a dirty look and he continued more seriously. "Why do you need to go there?"

"Well," Montgomery started, looking around the empty hall to make sure they weren't overheard. "You know my roommate, Alison? Her dad died."

"Wow, that really…sucks," he muttered as if not sure what to say.

"Yeah well apparently not 'cuz she said something about how in her culture 'death is just another part of life' or something like that." Sirius looked confused, but Montgomery continued. "Anyway, her mom sent her a letter and said that he'd been murdered to make it look like it was a suicide, so he's like trapped in hell or something."

"This is all very sad, but what does that have to do with me, you and the Room of Requirement?"

"Well, I sorta volunteered to save him, and Dumbledore gave me this thing," she pulled the mug of Cocoa out of her robes, "to bribe the King of Hell."

"Wait…you want to go to Hell?" Montgomery looked at him sheepishly. "And Dumbledore is okay with this?" She nodded. "That's the most retarded thing I have heard, and I hang out with Wormtail, mind you."

"I'm sure if there were any real danger, Dumbledore wouldn't have asked me to do it…" she began but Sirius cut her off.

"Montgomery, the guy isn't exactly young anymore…he must be off his rocker!" When she didn't say anything, he ran his hands anxiously through his hair, a habit that he seemed to copy from James every once and a while. "So, just so we're clear, you want me to take you to the Room of Requirement so you can open a door into Hell to convince the _King_ of Hell to release your roommate's dad?"

"Basically. Only, I was wondering if you would…come with me," she asked quietly, looking down at her robes.

"What?"

"Well, Janis is still in Spain and Lily is with Alison in the hospital wing. I mean, you always seem for some troublemaking, so I figured…" Sirius held up his hand to silence her, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"I guess…I mean, I can't just let you go into Hell all by yourself. You'll need a man of my talents to survive, after all." Montgomery laughed.

"_Man_? Please." She straightened herself out and looked down the bridge of her nose, so it seemed that she was taller than him. In fact, they were relatively the same height, as Sirius had yet to go through that growth-spurt that James kept teasing him about and Montgomery had always been tall for her age.

"Well, if you're going to throw insults at me, I'll just go, shall I?" He went to turn back to the Great Hall but Montgomery grabbed his shoulder and spun him around violently, pushing him against the wall.

"Okay, okay I'm sorry. But don't you get it, this is someone's _dad _we're talking about!" she shouted, nearly hysterical. He looked at her, rather surprised at her sudden outburst, and also at their embarrassing proximity. But a sudden frown crossed his face.

"No, I don't understand." Montgomery backed away from him, looking crestfallen. "But if it's that important to you, I'll go," he said finally after a moment of silence. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards the stairs.

When they reached the seventh floor, Sirius stopped at a blank wall across from a tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy.

"Why'd we stop?" asked Montgomery reproachfully.

"This is it. Walk past this spot three times, concentrating on what you need." She nodded and started walking, but he interrupted her. "Be as specific as you can, and be careful too. It's probably dangerous opening this kind of door." Montgomery gave him an annoyed look, as if this was already obvious and continued pacing.

A few moments later, an ancient door appeared before them. The figures of hundreds of tortured souls were carved out of what appeared to be a heavy wood adorning the portal and it seemed to vibrate, as if a great force was hidden behind it. Montgomery and Sirius looked at each other for a minute before she reached her hand out cautiously and grabbed the heavy, silver doorknob.

"Ready?" she asked

"I guess," Sirius sighed. Montgomery turned her wrist and the door opened with a slow, eerie creak, revealing complete darkness. She poked her head in curiously before walking right inside, pulling Sirius by the wrist behind her.

As soon as they walked through the door, it shut behind them with a loud "thump" and they jumped as they were suddenly overwhelmed by a sickening red light. A vast city was illuminated before them, abandoned and quiet. Instinctively, Montgomery grabbed hold of Sirius's hand before starting to walk down the winding road, not saying a word to each other.

It seemed to be endless. They walked and walked for what had to be hours and barely came across anything. Every once and a while, they would pass a group of what appeared to be hags, huddled together and whispering in what Montgomery assumed was Mandarin, but neither of them could understand a word of it, and Sirius's feeble attempts to get directions only led to blank stares or the occasional chuckle at the mention of "Yanlou."

After a particularly haggard looking woman snickered cruelly at Sirius and hobbled away, he smacked his forehead and groaned to himself.

"God, I am _so_ stupid!" Montgomery looked at him, confused. "James was just telling me at dinner, how could I forget?!"

"What are you talking about?" she asked in an exhausted voice. Although she wasn't physically tired, Hell was a rather emotionally draining place it seemed.

"When he was in Germany, trying to get with those twins, he was having trouble with the language barrier…"he began.

"Too bad for him," Montgomery said sarcastically.

"So," Sirius continued, "he started working on this charm so he could talk to them."

"What?" she said, disbelieving.

"Yeah, he hadn't quite perfected it, and it only lasts a couple hours but it's worth a shot, right?" Sirius said rather excitedly, his eyes lighting up for the first time since they'd walked through the door. Without waiting for an answer, he took out his wand and pointed it at his throat. "Lingua," he whispered a little shakily, nervous about trying a new charm on himself.

A moment passed and nothing happened. "Did it work?" she asked him. He shrugged his shoulders and walked up to what Montgomery had thought was a pile of rags, but as it stood up at his approach, she realized it was really an old Chinese woman with empty sockets for eyes and thin, wispy hair on top of her head. Sirius backed away a couple steps before whispering something quietly, obviously afraid of disrupting her.

Montgomery couldn't tell if she had heard him, but the woman's lips began to move and her gaze (alarmingly) seemed to be directed at Montgomery herself, peering over Sirius's shoulder as if he weren't even there.

Whatever she'd said made a wave of unease sweep through Montgomery's body, not helped by the fact that Sirius's gaze was now also fixed on her, a look of fear and apprehension in his eyes.

He walked back to Montgomery's side, not mentioning what he'd just heard. "Well?" Montgomery questioned. "What did she say?"

"I…I'm not sure," Sirius lied. She could tell he was lying because he was looking at the ground, something he always did when questioned by a teacher about a prank. Although absent was the usual smirk, replaced instead by a very uncharacteristic frown. Montgomery let out a frustrated sigh.

"This is ridiculous," she whispered, pulling out her own wand and casting Lingua on her throat. She turned to ask the woman herself but found that she had seemingly evaporated into thin air. Knowing that it would be useless to look for her in such a foreign place, they silently agreed to continue and hoped to come across someone else on the way.

They walked in silence for a while longer before they came upon a thin, dirty man wearing nothing but torn up shorts, his bare legs sunk to the knees in mud behind his cart. He seemed to be attempting to sell what seemed to be different kinds of human orifices.

"Excuse me," Montgomery asked, careful not to get too close for fear of sinking into the sludge. She recognized that she wasn't speaking English, and was rather pleased that the charm seemed to have taken effect. "Could you point us in the direction that we might find Yanlou?" she inquired hesitantly, afraid to meet the same mockery that Sirius had in his attempts.

The man looked at her blankly for a moment before breaking out in laughter. "Yanlou? Why would you want to find him?" he asked, leaning on his cart for support as he wiped tears from his eyes.

"We want to…eh…talk to him," said Sirius, who had come up behind Montgomery. This only made the man laugh harder.

"Well…" he began, taking several deep breaths, "I don't know what you have to say to the King of Hell, but if you keep going straight, you will come to a fork. Keep to the left and you will find whom you seek." With that, he sunk into the ground, completely disappearing from view, taking his cart with him. Montgomery and Sirius looked at each other, relieved to have at least found someone to give them directions before continuing along the road.

The air seemed to get thinner as they hiked deeper and deeper into Diyu, as though they were climbing a great mountain, though they seemed to be descending rather than ascending. They passed broken-down buildings, crumbling towers. And sometimes they walked passed broken souls, who more often than not, didn't seem to see them at all, but were instead lost in their own minds. Everything was tinted in oranges and reds, making things appear much closer sometimes than they really were.

Finally, a great castle suddenly loomed before them, and two stout guards stood at the gate that seemed to soar high into the sky. But was there a sky? Everything looked the same, and there was no horizon line. Montgomery and Sirius stopped abruptly in front of one of the guards, and Sirius took a step forward to assert himself.

"We request the presence of Yanlou," he stated rather strongly, and Montgomery couldn't help but admire his courage in such an environment. The guard (who, Montgomery realized, had the head of a pig) looked down at Sirius crossly before grabbing them each by the shoulder and pulling them roughly through the door, ignoring their cries of protest.

"What the fuck are you doing?" shouted Montgomery angrily as she struggled to free herself, but to no avail. Sirius yelled similar inquiries but they fell on deaf ears as the guard dragged them unceremoniously down several flights of stairs and threw them into what appeared to be a damp, uninhabited dungeon, shutting a door behind them.

"Well, isn't this romantic," Sirius hissed derisively as he sat on the ground, the crunch of what they hoped were animal bones echoing from underneath him. "This is all _your_ fault," he accused.

"Well excuse _me_ for wanting to be a good person," Montgomery retorted as she sat down next to him, giving the locked door an angry shove with her shoulders.

"Hah! I didn't know that casting an Impervius Charm on one's mouth was the act of a good person!"

"Hey, that was hilarious! Peter couldn't eat for days!"

"Or putting Daisy Dibb's Ever-Sticking Stick on the eye-pieces of the telescopes before Astronomy! Or bribing the Fat Lady to keep me out of the Gryffindor common room! Or casting Disillusionment Charms on tacks and putting them on all the toilets on the third floor! Or…"

"Okay, okay shut up already!" Montgomery interrupted. She stood up and looked through the bars of the door. There was no light coming from outside, and her eyes were only just starting to adjust to the dark of the cell. She slid back down the door hopelessly and leaned her head against the rotting wood.

They sat there for a while, silently contemplating what was going to happen to them, before Montgomery broke the silence.

"What did that woman say to you before?" she asked innocently.

"What woman?" Sirius asked in an equally oblivious voice.

"The woman who didn't have eyes," she said, exasperated.

"I told you already. I dunno. I couldn't understand her. Maybe…the charm takes a while to kick in." Montgomery could tell she wasn't going to get him to say anything further on the subject, and just as they were settling back into an uncomfortable quiet, they heard footsteps on the other side of the door. It swung open suddenly and the two went tumbling backwards. They scrambled quickly to their feet and looked at the guard reproachfully.

"Yanlou will see you now," he said huskily as he beckoned them down the dark corridor. Montgomery and Sirius exchanged apprehensive glances that they could barely see before following him through the sinister hall.


	9. A Hero's Welcome

**Sorry for the wait! Don't own Harry Potter...enjoy!**

* * *

"Hung…Hung…Ah yes, here he is. Died early this afternoon," Yanlou muttered to himself as he looked over the list of names at his side. His huge, bulging eyes scrolled the lines sternly before he looked at Montgomery and Sirius, who stood before his towering form hesitantly.

"Please…uh, your highness," Montgomery said finally, taking a step forward, "We think there has been a mistake." Yanlou let out a low growl and she stepped back next to Sirius's side.

"I never make mistakes!" he roared fiercely, his already red skin turning more violently so. "Lewis Hung has been committed to the Chamber of Avici and will remain there! Suicide is not something that should be so easily forgiven!"

"But…"

"Silence!" he cried, standing up and taking a threatening step towards the two. "I am the judge, and no one can strip that power from me! Now leave this place, before I punish you for your insolence!"

"Your highness!" Sirius bellowed as Yanlou continued to make his way towards them, each step shaking the room. "If you would just listen to us! We believe that he was murdered!"

"I've heard enough from you, boy!" Yanlou said angrily as he bent down and picked up Sirius in his giant, red hand. Sirius let out a cry of pain as Yanlou's hot flesh made contact with his own.

"Wait!" screamed Montgomery in a panicked voice as Sirius was lifted high into the air. "Don't hurt him!" Yanlou looked down at her curiously and loosened his grip slightly. "We've brought you something…something from Albus Dumbledore!"

"Dumbledore? That name means nothing to me!"

"He's a very powerful wizard in the living world, and he thought you might like to have this," she said, regaining her composure as she reached into her robes and pulled out the Teobram Cocoa.

"What is it?" Yanlou whispered greedily as he set Sirius down, obviously sensing the drink's power.

"Dumbledore said it will give you infinite wisdom and you'll be able to see the future," she said, looking up bravely into his severe face.

Without another word, Yanlou grabbed the mug eagerly and downed the chocolate in one, loud gulp. He let out a belch that echoed off the walls before sitting back in his throne and looking serenely at Montgomery as she knelt next to Sirius, who was massaging his burned flesh delicately. After a few moments of silence, he snapped his fingers and the form of a thin, middle-aged man appeared in a flash before them.

"Lewis Hung," he said in an eerily calm voice as he leaned forward earnestly. "How did you die?"

The man looked up at the intimidating face nervously as he fidgeted with his hands. "I…I run a small business in our town," he began finally. "A rival businessman was jealous of my recent success and poisoned my firewhiskey."

"Why were you drinking in the middle of the day?" Yanlou asked imploringly as he nodded towards the poor man.

"I was...upset that my daughter had gone back to school. I always miss her terribly, you see," he answered before breaking into sobs. "Now…now I'll never see her again," he cried, hiding his tears ashamedly in his hands. Yanlou looked at him pityingly before standing up.

"Now, now," he consoled. "Don't be so sure of that. I can see now the honesty in your eyes since the corruption of my own has been lifted. You will be reborn, and into a position of prominence, I assure you." The man began to weep even harder, this time in thanks, and Yanlou broke into an uncharacteristic smile. "And I can see that you will one day be reunited with your daughter."

With another snap of his fingers, Yanlou made Lewis Hung disappear before turning towards Montgomery and Sirius again.

"Thank you, my friends, for letting me see the truth that I could not before."

"But your highness, Dumbledore said the effects were only temporary…" started Montgomery, but Yanlou raised a hand to silence her.

"Although the knowledge and foresight might not last, this has reminded me of my duties as ruler of Diyu. I will not again stray from my post, never fear." Montgomery turned to Sirius and smiled brightly.

"Back to Hogwarts?" she said with a mischievously-quirked eyebrow. She helped him gingerly to his feet before turning back to Yanlou. "I don't suppose you could just snap those big, strong fingers of yours and get us back to school? It would save us all that walking…" she said in her damsel-in-distress voice. Sirius rolled his eyes and then let out a little grunt of pain.

"Of course, dear. The hospital wing, I think, for your friend's wounds. And make sure to thank this Dumbledore for his gift." He snapped his fingers and before Montgomery knew what had happened, she and Sirius were lying on stiff, white beds on either side of Alison's.

Lily and Lorraine both let out cries of surprise and Dumbledore stood to greet them with that knowing smile that always seemed to be plastered on his face. But just as Sirius turned to Alison and said, "Your dad is safe," she jumped up from her bed and threw her arms around him in a strong embrace that made his burns ache.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" And before anyone had a chance to say anything else, she kissed him full on the mouth.

It seemed that she soon remembered where she was because she pulled away just as quickly as she had jumped on him and stood, embarrassed, next to his bed. Montgomery looked at her surprised at first, but then soon recovered and puckered out her lips expectantly. Alison rolled her eyes and sat at the edge of Sirius's bed as the two heroes began to recap the story to their small audience. Afterwards, everyone was hustled out by a grumpy old Healer who began to tend to Sirius's burns.

Montgomery rested her arms behind her head as she watched Sirius being poked and prodded insensitively by the Healer and let out a small chuckle every time he let out a squeak of pain. Finally, when they had been left alone in their beds, the two looked at each other and laughed at the absurdity of it all.

"That was some 'thanks' Alison gave you," Montgomery said finally as she rolled lazily onto her side.

"Yeah, well…" Sirius started, but lost focus as his mind trailed off into space.

"You have a dirty mind, Sirius Black. Stop thinking about the other ways she can thank you later!" she scolded playfully as she threw her pillow at him.

"You're just mad she didn't snog you, too!" he smirked, throwing the pillow back at her.

"Just because I _look _like a boy, doesn't mean I have to _act _like one!" Montgomery retorted as she continued their tossing game.

"Hey, this _is _the seventies. Society will accept you, no worries mate!" Just as he tossed the pillow back in the air, it burst into flames and they both looked up to see the cross Healer from earlier standing at the doorway, wand raised.

"That's enough! Stop causing a ruckus in my hospital wing!" she shouted, far too loudly than she should have, in Montgomery's opinion.

"Could you keep it down over there?" she said smartly as she returned her head heavily to her mattress. "I'm trying to rest here, just got back from Hell and all." As the woman huffed and left the room, Montgomery looked at Sirius's smiling face. "The nerve of some people," she said, shaking her head.

As the two settled down for the night, Montgomery gazed at the ceiling in thought. For some reason, the image of Alison and Sirius kissing kept replaying in her mind. Every time it did, a strange ache in her stomach grew worse and worse, and she had to fight the urge to hit something.

"Ah, the heroes force themselves from recovery to fill their empty stomachs with bacon and eggs," cried James jovially as Montgomery and Sirius sat down at breakfast the next morning.

"Didn't have much of a choice, did we?" sighed Sirius as he helped himself to James's orange juice. Even though they had tried, their attempts to convince the Healer that they were too fatigued to go to class had failed miserably, and the two were thrown out of the hospital wing with several bad-tempered words nipping at their heels.

"Ah, well, best not to miss the first day of classes anyway," said Remus as he sat down beside them.

"We can always count on you to spoil the mood, can't we Moony?" James said, rolling his eyes as he summoned his orange juice from Sirius's hands. A silence fell over the table as Alison and Lily joined them at the table. This was only because Alison had sidled herself between Montgomery and Sirius and the former was now glaring rather forcibly at her.

"Hi, Sirius," Alison said in her usual girly voice and she snatched the last piece of toast off the plate that Montgomery had been reaching for. "Did you heal up alright?"

"Uh…yeah," he said, raising his eyebrows awkwardly towards Montgomery before looking back at Alison.

"Hey, um…there's a Hogsmeade trip on Halloween. Wanna go together?" Alison asked airily as she took a bite.

"Well…that's a ways off, isn't it?"

Alison's face fell a little. "Oh, yeah. I suppose. I just thought…"

"He'll go with you," interjected James suddenly.

"Great!" Alison said excitedly as she jumped up from the table. "See you later, Sirius," she smiled with an extra bat of her eyelashes before running off towards the stairs.

"Blech, remind me again why I saved her dad?" Montgomery groaned as she summoned the toast off of James's plate and nibbled at it thoughtfully.

"Because you're a good person," said Lily in a matronly tone. "Now come on, I've got our schedules and we've got Potions in twenty minutes. I told Severus we'd meet him there early." With that, she stood and pulled a dazed Montgomery towards the dungeons.

"Tell me something, Prongs," said Sirius crossly. "Since when do I need you answering for me?"

"Since you can't see a good opportunity when it makes out with you in a hospital wing," James answered simply. "Alison is one of the best-looking girls of our year, and she fancies you!"

"Only because she thinks I saved her dad!" Sirius said in an annoyed voice that he rarely used on his best friend.

"Still, come on mate! You can't just turn down a girl whose dad died yesterday!" Sirius rolled his eyes. "Besides, she's been looking at you all dreamy-like for a while now. Bet she's glad to have an excuse to snog you whenever she pleases."

Later in Potions, Montgomery was disturbed from her reverie when she was hit smack in the face by the usual paper airplane.

_I believe I owe you a piece of toast._

_-Sirius_

She looked over at him curiously, but he had his back turned, focusing intently on his assignment.

_No, you owe James one. I stole his, remember?_

_-Montgomery_

_Are you mad about Alison?_

_Of course not, snog who you like._

_No I mean, she thinks that I was the one that saved her dad. But I was just along for the ride._

_Nonsense, you're the one that used Lingua. You're the one that got burned up._

_Why do you always do that?_

_Do what?_

_Give someone else the credit? It wouldn't be the end of the world if you took pride in a job well-done._

_Is being humble a crime?_

_No. But it's not a trait you often find in Gryffindor._

_I guess I get it from my mother._

At this point, Montgomery's potion had turned into a goopy mess and she had to stop passing notes to be reprimanded by Slughorn.

After lunch, they all trekked up to Arithmancy, where James inexplicably took Lily's usual seat next to Montgomery, who quirked a brow at him questioningly.

"Wanna pull a prank on Sirius and Alison?"

"Oho, so your seemingly innocent Cupid's play had ulterior motives?"

"Naturally," he said with a smirk.

"What did you have in mind?"

* * *

**Hope everyone's xmas was spectacular! Anyone get anything good? I got a video ipod nano...very exciting.**

**Haha okay, so it's been...several months. But you know, college is a bigger commitment than I originally thought! I have another month off though, so I will probably be writing a few more chapters before then. Um...anyway. As you can see, the sexual tension is rising between Montgomery and Sirius. I don't yet have planned the prank, but I'm sure it will be something juicy. A chance to see Montgomery and James working together for once.**

**I have to say that I hadn't looked at this story in a while and I went back to read it in review. I am rather pleased with it, so I hope other people are as well. Anyway, everyone have a cheery holiday, and don't forget to R&R and look for more chapters to come!**


	10. The Bittersweet Reunion

**Don't own Harry Potter...I need to get writing more before school. Enjoy!**

* * *

The two spent the rest of Arithmancy brainstorming and ignoring Lily and Sirius, who kept shooting them dirty looks since they were forced to sit together in the back of the room. It was rather fun planning with James, who, Montgomery had to admit, was very bright. But as their conversation continued out into the hall, he raised a protesting hand.

"Now, now, I know you want to get back at him for snogging someone else," he started, ignoring Montgomery's denying sputters, "but we can't be seen canoodling or Sirius might get suspicious."

Montgomery rolled her eyes but nodded in agreement.

"We'll think it over some more tonight," he said just as Sirius walked out of the classroom. James ushered him towards the Great Hall, speaking avidly about lunch.

Meanwhile, Lily had rounded on Montgomery for her mutinous actions. "What was _that_ about?" she hissed as the two girls meandered through the bustling crowd, "and why were you talking to _Potter_?"

"O come off it, he's not so bad." Lily gave her a look of exasperation. "Besides, great minds think alike. The guy's a lot smarter than he looks, Lil."

"I'm _so_ sure," she said sarcastically. "The only things going on in that prat's mind are Quidditch and well-endowed, German redheads." Montgomery rolled her eyes again but could tell that the argument was going nowhere and decided to keep her mouth shut as she began silently plotting her next prank.

However, she was soon distracted from her musings as they sat down at the Gryffindor table and noticed Sirius being pulled roughly by the arm to sit with Alison's friends. He looked pleadingly at James, Remus and Peter but they were all failing miserably to hide their laughter behind their hands. Montgomery smirked and pointed out the scuffle to Lily, who snorted and mumbled something along the lines of, "Stupid git deserves a crazy girlfriend."

A few nights later, while Alison and some of her third year friends were fawning over Sirius in the corner of the Gryffindor common room, James and Montgomery pretended to work on their Arithmancy essay.

"If we're gonna get Severus to do it, we must get Sirius out of the room…" pointed out Montgomery as she sorted intently through her notes. "We could land him in the hospital wing," she suggested nonchalantly.

"Nothing serious though, he is my best mate after all," sighed James as he crossed something out on his parchment.

"Did I hear my name?" asked Sirius raggedly as he shook off the girls and stumbled over to their table.

"Nope," said Montgomery innocently as she skimmed the index of her Arithmancy book. Sirius took the seat next to her and started indifferently reading through her essay.

"I should really be working on mine but," he started, looking fearfully back at Alison, who was waving airily at him from across the room, "girls mate."

James looked up at him with a smirk that faltered as Lily came in through the portrait hole. "Know exactly what you mean."

"Me too! The Missus is always giving me trouble," sighed Montgomery loudly before breaking out into giggles.

"Well, if you didn't look like such a bloke, you wouldn't have that problem," teased James as he started putting books back in his bag. "We'll go over it some more tomorrow," he added, pulling Sirius out of his chair. "Come on, I told Moony we'd meet him in the library."

"See you later," mumbled Montgomery as she read over her sorry excuse for an essay.

Lily took Sirius's seat and began reading over Montgomery's shoulder. "I should probably have a look at that before you hand it in," she laughed amiably as she snatched the parchment from Montgomery's hands and started making corrections.

"Thanks," she sighed as she looked aimlessly at her empty hands. Even if she got along okay with James, hanging out with him just wasn't the same as when she was wandering the halls with Janis. At the very least, she didn't have to put up with cracks about her androgyny when she was with Janis.

Just as Montgomery was about to go to the Owlery to send her best friend a letter, there was a loud ruckus just outside the portrait hole.

"Miss Rodriguez, the headmaster has requested to see you…" sounded an irritated Professor McGonagall from the hall.

"I don't give a rats ass about what that old fart has requested!" retorted a familiar voice angrily. "I haven't seen Monty in months!" With a final cry of defiance, Janis came tumbling through the portrait hole, balancing several boxes in each hand. Montgomery jumped up from her chair (scattering several half-finished papers in the process) and ran towards Janis.

"Monty!" she cried as all of her packages went tumbling to the floor. The two hugged each other as Professor McGonagall tripped over the boxes towards them.

"Honestly, is that the way to speak of the headmaster? Detention, Miss Rodriguez!" she sputtered angrily before marching out of the common room. They both ignored her.

"How's your grandmother?" Monty finally asked as she dragged Janis over to sit by the fire. Janis's face fell a little.

"Well, she didn't make it," she started sadly but then her face broke into a wide smile. "But she left my family her entire fortune! I had no idea she was so well off! There's a whole castle waiting for us in Spain!" As she said this, she rummaged around in her robes and pulled out some muggle photographs, handing them to Montgomery.

"Wow, that's so cool," she said, flipping through the pictures of her friend's newly inherited palace. "Sorry to hear about your grandmother, though," she added.

"O, well she was pretty old for a muggle. And she lived every minute of her life to the fullest. You see that?" Janis said, pointing to a picture of a red motorcycle. "_That_ was her Ducati. And she left it to me. You should have seen the faces of my brothers when they heard that part of the will."

They both laughed, but Montgomery was a bit lost. "So…what is it?" Janis laughed harder at this.

"It's like a car, but smaller and faster and loads of fun to ride. My grandmother used to take me through Europe on the back of it, drove my parents mad!"

"She sounds really cool," Montgomery said eagerly, still looking at the Ducati. Her interest in the vehicle did not go unnoticed.

"You know," started Janis mischievously, "there's a whole garage full of these at the house in Spain. You should stay with me this summer."

The very idea of her parents' faces as she sped off into the sunset on a motorcycle was enough to get Montgomery to agree. "But that's a ways off, it's only September after all," she sighed as she wandered over to the hazardous pile of boxes blocking the entrance to the common room. "What's in all these, by the way?"

"Souvenirs from Spain," Janis answered simply. "There's one for almost everyone. Wanna help me carry them upstairs? You could open your's early."

"Definitely!" Montgomery grabbed several boxes and ran up the stairs to their dorm, her Arithmancy homework lying forgotten on the table. "Come on, Lily!" she shouted behind her.

Lily rolled her eyes before getting slowly to her feet. "Alright, alright!" she mumbled. "But you really have no head for numbers, you know!" she complained loudly as she followed them, missing a step every once and a while as she continued crossing out whole paragraphs of Montgomery's essay. "I never should have made you take this class."

* * *

**Sorry this one is so short! It wasn't actually gonna be the whole thing but it's just been sitting, half-finished on my screen for at least a week like this giant, useless blob and I figured I would submit it anyway. Maybe now that it's out of the way, I can continue with whatever is going to happen next.**

**Not that it will affect the next few chapters much, but would you guys prefer a happy or sad ending? I like sad endings better because they're more realistic. Like...if you guys saw Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, I loved that bittersweetness. Simply amazing. Anyway, R&R and tell me which you would prefer, because I am honestly torn about which way this story is going to turn.**

**Anyway, are you guys curious about the prank? I certainly am, it's driving me nuts figuring out how it's gonna work :D**

**Happy reading!**


	11. In Cahoots

**-cough- don't own anything? explanation after chapter?**

* * *

A week into classes, Montgomery was sitting in Potions when she was hit in the head with another paper airplane. _Can't these guys find other ways of getting my attention?_ She unfolded the airplane and read James's message, suggesting that they ask "that greasy git" if he would help them prank Sirius and Alison after class. Turning her head to look behind her, Montgomery noticed that Sirius was absent from his usual seat next to James.

_Where's Sirius? _she wrote on the other of the paper before refolding it and flying it back to James.

_I convinced him to skip class today. It's better than putting him in the hospital wing to keep him from getting suspicious._

_How did you convince him to skip class? _

_I have my ways. _Montgomery raised her eyebrows at this but decided to stop asking questions. She glanced over at Severus, who was bent over his cauldron next to Lily. Could she really convince him? He might have done it just for her sake, but once he found out James was involved, it was really up in the air.

_Maybe I should talk to him alone, _she wrote after a while. Her potion bubbled angrily at her as she sent the note back to James. He gave a little chuckle and Montgomery saw Severus shoot him a glare. James caught the glare and winked at him, which made Severus's glare even deeper.

_Maybe you're right. Tell me how it goes tonight. _

Montgomery sighed and turned back to her potion, which growled at her.

"Maybe you should stop flirting with that prat and get back to work," hissed Lily next to her. Montgomery stared in shock. _Was that a hint of jealousy in her voice?_

"I wasn't _flirting_. And what would you care anyway? You hate James."

"I care because I'm sick of helping you with extra Potions homework," the redhead retorted, a bit louder. _Definitely jealousy_, thought Montgomery. Lily never talked to her like that. Severus stopped stirring his potion to listen.

"Well I'm sorry I'm such a burden," said Montgomery, a bit more sarcastic than she had meant. "I'll just get someone else to help me." She caught Severus's eye and said, "Severus, can I talk to you after class for a minute?" He rolled his eyes and turned back to his potion.

"Don't think I'm going to tutor you even more than I already do, just because you're fighting with Lily," he grumbled, adding a pinch of armadillo bile to his cauldron.

"We're not fighting," said Montgomery, who was interrupted by a _hmph_ from Lily. "It's not about Potions. Well, not _exactly_." He looked at her and gave a small nod of consent as he got up to get a vile for his potion.

The bell rang a few minutes later, and as Montgomery hung back with Severus, she saw James give her a thumbs up before walking out of the room. Professor Slughorn gathered his papers and waved as he made his way to the door. Lily walked out without a second glance at either of them, which immediately soured Severus's mood.

"Great now Lily's mad at me," he said, shouldering his bag and starting to head after her.

"Will you relax for five seconds?" asked Montgomery. "Has Lily ever held a grudge for more than a few days?"

"Not against _me_," he said with a hint of pride in his voice. "And I don't want to break my streak so let's get on with this." He leaned against the doorframe and crossed his arms, waiting for Montgomery's explanation.

"Okay," she said, ignoring his attitude. "I was wondering if you could whip me up some Polyjuice Potion." Whatever Severus had been expecting, it hadn't been that. His arms grew lax and he went to lean against Slughorn's desk, dropping his bag to the floor.

"What do you need Polyjuice Potion for?" he asked. Although he was frowning, Montgomery could still hear the excitement in his voice.

"I'm going to pull a prank on Sirius," she answered. A small smirk flashed between them. "Should I take it that as a 'yes'?"

"Anything to knock that prick off his high horse," he said with a sneer. Montgomery was a bit disturbed at the dark look in his eyes but decided to ignore it for the time being.

"Okay, so we're going to need to get the book out of the Restricted Section of the library," she began, but was cut off.

"Don't bother, I've got a copy in my room," he said. Montgomery quirked an eyebrow. "Light reading?" he said, shrugging his shoulders. "Anyway, it's going to take about a month to prepare. I'm assuming you can wait that long?"

"Yes," she said, rolling her eyes. "I'm not a child, you know." Severus looked like he wanted to retort but decided not to. He picked up his bag and waved good bye as he left the room.

"Phase One: complete," said Montgomery to no one in particular before following his lead.

One morning in mid-October, Severus pulled Montgomery aside after breakfast.

"It's ready," he whispered, pulling a flask out of his robes. "Now all you have to do is add some hair or something to it. Whoever you're changing into." He raised his eyebrows expectantly but Montgomery shook her head and pocketed the flask.

"I don't know who it is yet, James says he's already got that part sorted out." She stopped short and gave a small gasp at her slip. Severus's eyes bulged with anger.

"_James_? James Potter is helping you?" he spat and then smacked his hand to his forehead. "I just helped James Potter with a prank!" He went to grab at the pocket of her robes but Montgomery was too quick for him. She jumped aside and ran for a secret passageway behind one of her favorite suits of armor.

"A little help?!" she whispered, eyes wide as she heard Severus running behind her. The suit nodded. As she slipped behind him, he braced himself, holding his ax across his chest.

"Dammit Monty, give me back that potion!" she heard him call after her as she ran up the stairs toward the third floor.

Later that day in Care of Magical Creatures, Sirius was being fawned over by Alison again and Montgomery thought it would be a perfect opportunity to tell James about the Polyjuice Potion. They were covering Barghests today, and as their teacher droned on about the creatures, she pulled several leashes out of a bag and told them to get into pairs to take the large, black dogs for a walk around the grounds.

"Here, James," she said, dragging a particularly vicious Barghest by its leash over to him. "Help me with this big one." She ignored Lily's glare and the two began heading towards the Whomping Willow, where they were sure to have some privacy.

"Severus gave me the potion today," she whispered as the dog let out a growl and tried to chase after an unsuspecting pheasant nearby. James grabbed onto the leash to keep her from being dragged away and let out a laugh.

"So _that's_ why you were talking this morning." Montgomery looked at him.

"Why do you say it like that?"

"Well, it looked like you guys were pretty close, and then he went chasing after you," he said, eyeing her with a grin.

"Yeah well it's not like we're going to advertise to the world that we've got Polyjuice Potion under our robes," said Montgomery, rolling her eyes. "And the only reason he chased after me was because I accidently let it slip that you and I were in cahoots." James sighed.

"That would do it," he said.

"I think you were just _hoping _that we were going off to snog so you could have Lily to yourself," said Montgomery with a knowing look. The Barghest was slowly leading them to the lake, where it promptly flopped down and began cleaning itself. James looked at it for a few minutes, lost in thought.

"Snivellus isn't competition," he said quietly. "She doesn't think of him that way." There was a question ringing in his voice, but Montgomery decided not to answer. To tell the truth, she wasn't sure if that was true. Although she _had _heard her friend sound slightly jealous at the thought of her flirting with James.

"She'll come around," she said finally. "You just have to give her time." James's head snapped up, as if out of a daze.

"Oh please Monty, how could she resist?" he asked, laughing as he flexed his muscles a little. Montgomery rolled her eyes. She heard their teacher calling their names and they started walking back to the group, dragging the Barghest behind them.

"Oh yeah, whose hair are we using for the potion?" she asked as she untied the dog. It bounded away to play with the others.

"My great aunt's. I found a few of her hairs on an old sweater she gave me over the summer." Montgomery looked a little reluctant.

"_Great _aunt? Sounds a little old," she said as she waved at Lily.

"Yeah well it will be funnier that way. Plus it has to be someone Sirius has never seen before." With that, he ran towards Sirius and jumped on his back. Alison gave him a reproachful look but hooked her arm in Sirius's and began leading them towards the castle. Lily marched up to Montgomery and started barraging her with questions. A bit more heatedly than was usual.

"What the bloody hell are you doing leaving me and Janis to hang out with that idiot all class?" she finally asked coherently, giving Montgomery a chance to answer.

"We were just talking," said Montgomery, shrugging her shoulders. Janis, who had been talking to her teacher about how to acquire a Barghest for domesticating, caught up to them and laughed at the topic of conversation.

"Lily, when are you going to admit that you like James?" she asked.

"_Like him?_ I do NOT like him. I just don't understand why Monty does." Montgomery sighed and gave it up as a lost cause. She and Janis had to listen to her complain about James for the rest of the day.

Before Montgomery knew it, it was Halloween morning. She woke up early with a mischievous grin already plastered on her face. Janis, who was well aware of the plan, grinned back at her. It was her job to keep Lily occupied when Montgomery disappeared later that day. As the three of them talked about their Hogsmeade plans over breakfast, James sat down and slipped a small mirror into Montgomery's pocket.

"Good morning, Lily," he said, flashing her a smile and winking. The Lily rolled her eyes and put down her toast.

"Ugh, I've lost my appetite," she said, standing up. "You guys want to go?" Montgomery and Janis looked at their half finish breakfast and sighed in unison.

As the girls headed towards Honeydukes, Montgomery made her first move.

"Actually, I'm going to stop in Zonko's real quick, have to pick something up," she said, trying to sound as blasé as possible. Lily looked at her for a minute before responding.

"Are you going to meet anybody there?" she asked. Montgomery shook her head.

"Nope, just need a few things. I'll meet up with you guys later." And with that she turned around and started walking in the other direction. As soon as Lily and Janis were out of sight, she turned into the Three Broomsticks and stepped without hesitation into the boys' bathroom. James was waiting for her just behind the door and couldn't help but laugh.

"Told you no one would notice you coming into the boys' bathroom," he said, opening his bag and pulling out the robes he'd grabbed from the laundry room. He also pulled out a small vile filled with lavender liquid. Montgomery eyed it warily.

"Are you sure that's going to be enough?" she asked. "What if I change back halfway through?"

"It's fine, I looked up the measurements and this should be good for two hours."

"How did you look up the measurements?"

"I don't know if it's registered with your little brain, but I have an invisibility cloak," he said. Montgomery rolled her eyes. She was really starting to get tired of James's verbal abuse. Sirius was never this mean to her. "Now, you have the mirror I gave you this morning?"

"Oh is _that _what you slipped in my robes?" she said with a bit of an edge to her voice.

"Yeah. I have the other one. If you put a disillusionment charm on it I should be able to see, or at least hear, everything that's going on without anyone seeing that there's a mirror on the table." Montgomery raised her eyebrows at him before grabbing the spare robes and going in a stall to change. "What? You think I'm going to let you have all the fun? I want to at least enjoy the fruits of my labor." As Montgomery walked out of the stall, she held her hand out for the potion.

With a shudder, she downed the vile, wincing as it touched her tongue. "You're aunt tastes like cauliflower," she said, going to the mirror to watch her transformation.

"She kind of looks like cauliflower," said James, laughing as Montgomery's features began to shift. Her long blonde hair receded into her head and turned white and curly. Her face looked like it was melting as the skin sagged around her eyes and below her chin. She was steadily growing shorter, but her thin frame became wide and saggy to match her now aged face.

"Ugh," was all Montgomery could say as she stepped on her tip-toes to look at her final reflection in the mirror.

"I would say it's an improvement," said James, nodding and cleaning his glasses to get a better look. Montgomery glared at him, but it was hard to tell because her face was already so wrinkly. She pulled out her wand and the mirror and cast the disillusionment charm on it. Her hand now appeared empty, though she could still feel its frame between her fingers.

"Good girl," said James, patting her back. He looked at his watch. "Now, Sirius and Alison should just be arriving at Madam Puddifoot's. What they don't know is that their little party is about to be crashed by my Great Aunt Elly."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," grumbled Montgomery in her now raspy voice as she went to leave.

"Make me proud, Monty," said James, giving her a salute as she walked out the door.

* * *

**What's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this? Okay...so I realize it's been, well, years. But hey, life goes on, right? I was looking at this average wizard website and suddenly got inspired to continue this story. Took a while to remember what I was planning. But I'm actually getting back into the groove of writing again, believe it or not. I've written two chapters for my Naruto fanfic in the past week, which gives this story a lot of hope.**

**Read and review? Even though I probably don't deserve it...it might give me more juice to keep going.**


	12. Welcome to the Jungle

**Disclaimer: Don't own any of these characters (except Montgomery).**

**Warning: Cougar alert. Things are just beginning to heat up...**

* * *

Montgomery ran smack into Madame Rosmerta as soon as the door closed behind her.

"Pardon me, but what were you doing in the men's lavatory?" said the flustered young woman as she juggled an armful of empty butterbeer bottles. Montgomery looked down at the floor, which appeared blurry through her aged eyes and tried to think of an excuse. After several moments of stammering, she finally held up her liverspotted hands and shrugged, smiling.

"Sorry, got confused." A look of pity crossed over Madame Rosmerta's face and she nodded.

"Of course, dear. Well off you get." Montgomery smirked inwardly and thought that being old had its perks before she hobbled out the front door into the chilly October air. As she made her way through the crowded streets of Hogsmeade, her knees ached with every step and she had to stop several times to catch her breath. _"Nevermind about those perks," _she sighed as she turned into Madam Puddifoots. The shop was decked out in true Halloween fashion. Each table had a jack o'lantern with kissing couples carved into them. Orange and black lace hung from the ceiling in elegant drapes and a bobbing for apples competition was taking place in the center of the shop. Instead of bobbing in water like muggles though, laughing students were chasing flying apples around the room with their mouths open.

Montgomery scanned the shop quickly and spotted Sirius and Alison sitting at a table near the window. Sirius had a large pile of apples sitting in front of him, as if he was trying to block out the figure of his girlfriend with his winnings. As Montgomery watched, Alison grabbed his outstretched hand and removed a few apples from the pile so she could see him. It was hard to tell with her poor vision, but Montgomery swore she could see Sirius roll his eyes a bit at the gesture.

"Can I help you find a seat madam?" Montgomery's eyes snapped away from Sirius as her attention was caught by the perky waitress in front of her.

"Eh…something by the window if you please," she said slowly. "I want a view with my tea."

"Certainly," said the waitress, nodding and smiling as she led Montgomery to the table right next to Sirius and Alison. As she sat, Montgomery gingerly placed the invisible mirror on her lap. She thought she heard James laugh a little in anticipation and she looked sternly down at where she knew his reflection must be. "Would you like to participate in our bobbing for apples competition today?" Montgomery shook her head.

"I'm afraid my teeth just don't grip like they used to," she sighed, looking at Sirius's pile. "But it looks like this young man has a nice, strong jaw." Sirius and Alison looked at her with raised eyebrows. "I'm sure he'll share with me." She winked at him and he smiled hesitantly before nodding. The waitress laughed a bit before pulling out her notepad.

"What can I get for you today?" Montgomery grabbed the menu in front of her and perused it for a minute.

"How about a nice hot pumpkin smoothie for the occasion?" she said. "And a piece of chocolate cake."

"Coming right up!" And with that the waitress skipped away. Montgomery cleared her throat and turned back towards Sirius and Alison.

"Are you two on a date?" she asked, giving Sirius another wink. Sirius looked at Alison, who nodded and smiled at him encouragingly.

"Uh…yeah," he said, turning a bit red at the attention.

"How romantic!" cried Montgomery, clapping her hands together with excitement. "Oh to be young and in love." She wiped an imaginary tear from her face and ignored Sirius's bewildered look. "Now, I know I'm not much of a looker now, but back in the day I used to have all the men chasing after men." Giving Sirius an appraising look, she said, "You actually remind me of my late husband. Charming little devil he was, God rest his soul." Sirius's blush deepened slightly.

"I remember _our _first date," she continued, oblivious to Sirius and Alison readjusting themselves in their seats. "It was so romantic! He took me up on his flying carpet. You should have seen the hickies he gave me!" Sirius, who was about to take a sip of his tea, choked on it instead. Montgomery nodded at him. "Yes, I had to do a lot of explaining to mother about _those_." Sirius pulled his hand out of Alison's as he continued to cough.

"It was a short courtship to say the least," Montgomery said, closing her eyes as if remembering. In reality she was trying to compose herself at Sirius's embarrassment. "Mind you, I was no virgin, but it certainly was special with my Stan." Sirius and Alison were both blushing furiously now and looking down at their half-empty cups. Montgomery pointed a wary finger at Alison, who looked at it with apprehension. "Word of advice, missy, don't open your legs to just anyone! You never know whose harboring a mild case of spattergroit these days!" The waitress came by and placed a large piece of gooey chocolate cake and an orange smoothie in front of Montgomery, who continued on her tirade as she sipped her drink from a straw. "Now, Stan and I were…well I don't know what you kids call it these days. But we were experimental."

Alison, who had been trying to sneak her hand back into Sirius's, knocked over her cup of tea as her arm jerked in surprise. She cleaned it up with a wave of her wand and called the waitress over for a refill. Montgomery continued as though nothing had happened.

"You can't be too careful these days, and my poor Stan learned that the hard way," she said, nodding solemnly. "I mean, you pick up a stranger from a bar thinking you're going to have an innocent threeway, and the next thing you know you're on your deathbed with a mysterious fungus growing between your legs." Sirius, who looked as though he was trying to gain control of the situation, cleared his throat and took a bite of an apple.

"When…when was this exactly?" he asked as he swallowed.

"Last spring," sighed Montgomery, eyeing her chocolate cake as an idea formed in her mind. "Poor Stan, he lived life to the fullest and paid dearly for it." She let a few moments of silence pass before she leaned forward and placed her hand on Sirius's. "Now be a dear, handsome. My damn rheumatism's been acting up again and I can't get a grip on my fork to save my life." She eyed him expectantly as Sirius stared at her hand.

"Excuse me?" he said, looking at Alison, who shrugged her shoulders.

"Would you do an old, ailing widow a favor and feed me my cake?" Montgomery's stomach tightened as she heard James muffle his laughter. Sirius caught the sound and looked down at her lap in bemusement. Montgomery thought quickly. "It's nothing dear, just my poor empty stomach. Now about that cake…" Sirius pulled his hand out from under hers and shook his head.

"I don't think…" he looked at Alison pleadingly. "Don't we have to go…?" Alison stared at him, too shocked about the whole ordeal to come to his aid.

"Now now, don't be shy." Montgomery pushed her fork to the side of her table and looked Sirius in the eye. He looked from her to Alison and then back again before resigning himself. With a sigh, he reached over and picked up the fork. He stuck it into the side of the cake and, closing his eyes, raised the bite to Montgomery's face.

"Mmm, look at all that frosting," she said as she leaned forward and bit down. She pulled away slowly, savoring the disgusted and embarrassed look on Sirius's face. As a final touch, she licked her lips and smirked. "Now, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Sirius's face turned pale and clammy as he fed her another bite.

"Oh, you're such a gentleman," said Montgomery. She looked at Alison. "This one's a keeper," she said, nodding. Alison winced uncomfortably and nodded back. "I wonder…" she continued hesitantly. "He looks so much like Stan, would you mind letting me borrow a kiss from him?" Alison stared back at her in shock. Sirius gave a small yelp and scooted his chair as far away from Montgomery as possible.

"Come now, who knows how much longer I've got left," she said, standing up slowly and grabbing onto the mirror as it slid from her lap. She shuffled the few steps between their tables and leaned forward as Sirius leaned away from her in his chair. "Pucker up, let me show you what a _real_ woman is," and with that, Montgomery let her frail body fall forward as she closed her eyes. As their bodies made contact, the force knocked Sirius out of his chair and they both went crashing to the floor. Montgomery caught Sirius's lips in what was supposed to be a quick, disgusting peck.

But something was wrong. Sirius began kissing her back, and with earnest. She opened her eyes in shock and saw long, blonde hair blocking her view as it grew from her skull. The borrowed robes she was wearing grew loose around her body and she felt a cool breeze on her ankles as her legs stretched back to their normal length. As she let out a gasp and tried pulling away from Sirius, she heard a chair scrape angrily against the tile floor.

"Montgomery?!" cried Alison, leaning over the table and glaring. "_What _exactly do you think you're doing?" Montgomery stumbled to her feet, pushing roughly against Sirius, who was laughing and looking a bit sheepish.

"Um...nothing?" she said, grinning broadly and turning red.

"Really?" snapped Alison, crossing her arms. "Because it _looked _like you were making out with my boyfriend."

"Well…I…wasn't?" she said, her voice growing more high pitched with every word. Alison leaned forward.

"Good! Just because you're jealous of Sirius and me doesn't mean you can just come up with these elaborate schemes to take advantage of him." Sirius got to his feet and laughed, brushing his hands on his thighs. "And _you_!" Alison said, pointing an accusing finger and walking up to his face until they were inches apart. "I _saw_ you kissing her back, you pervert!" Sirius shrugged, still smiling.

"What can I say? I've got a thing for older women." Alison's face grew red. "I guess this is as good a time as any to tell you, but I don't think we should see each other anymore." Sirius reached for Montgomery's hand and she noticed that the Disillusionment Charm she'd cast on the mirror was wearing off. He grabbed the mirror and looked into it, giving the thumbs up at the hazy reflection of James on the other side.

"Mission accomplished, Prongs," he said. Montgomery stared at him as the cogs in her head turned. Then it all clicked together.

"You…knew about the prank," she whispered, sitting back in the chair which she had occupied as Great Aunt Elly only moments before.

"Well, not originally," said Sirius, shrugging. He looked around Alison's body and tried to catch Montgomery's eye, but she continued to look at the floor. "I could tell you guys were up to something though. And a couple weeks ago I got James to spill the beans. He filled me in and then gave you half the required amount of Polyjuice Potion so you'd change back halfway through your little performance."

Alison turned to look at Montgomery, angry tears in her eyes. Montgomery looked up and caught her gaze, shaking her head.

"You usedme to break up with Alison," she said in a monotone. Sirius stared at her.

"Well, when you say it like _that_, I sound like a real prick," he said after a minute.

"Oh? How would you suggest I say it then?" she said, her voice growing slightly hysterical. He rubbed his chin for a moment and then shrugged his shoulders. Montgomery stood up, mumbled a quick apology to Alison, left some money on her table and left the shop.

As she walked through Hogsmeade, the extra fabric of her robes billowed behind her. She tried to make sense of what had just happened, but her thoughts kept shifting from Sirius kissing her to Alison's tear-stricken face. She stumbled into the Three Broomsticks, where she had planned with Janis to meet after the prank. But they wouldn't be there for another half an hour.

Pulling her frazzled hair into a loose ponytail, Montgomery sat at the bar and ordered a butterbeer. Too confused to pay attention to her surroundings, she didn't even notice when someone sat next to her.

"Montgomery…" she looked up at Sirius, who was frowning at her. "I didn't mean for anyone to get hurt…"

"You never do," she said, barely above a whisper.

"I just figured…you know…I'd like to get in on the fun," he said.

"At what price?" she said, glaring at him. "Alison looked pretty upset. Kind of a shitty way to break a girl's heart, don't you think?"

"Oh," he said. "I was actually thinking of you." Montgomery stared at him. "How come you're always worried about other people getting hurt? You never stop to think how something's affecting you," he said, sounding almost frustrated. "This is exactly what that spirit in hell warned me about." He ran his fingers through his hair and ordered a butterbeer as Montgomery tried to process this information.

"You mean…that woman with no eyes?" she asked. He nodded. "So you _did _understand her after you cast lingua on yourself."

"Yeah I did, and let me just tell you, you should start worrying about yourself a little more," he sighed, looking at her with his brow furrowed.

"What is that supposed to mean, exactly?" she asked, losing patience.

"It means that she told me something, something she saw in the future," he said, taking a swig from his mug.

"Would you spit it out already?" said Montgomery. Sirius shook his head.

"She said I can't tell you." Montgomery rolled her eyes.

"Oh please. You know Divination is a load of crap, everyone says so."

"I don't think she was using Divination…" said Sirius, but Montgomery interrupted him.

"Give it a rest, Sirius. I've put up with enough of your bullshit for one day," she said, getting to her feet. "Actually, I've put up with enough of your bullshit for a lifetime. How could you just play with people's lives like that?" He looked like he wanted to answer but she continued. "I'm sick of you and James being assholes to everyone, using them for your own amusement. If you're ever ready to grow up, you know where to find me." And with that, she stormed out of the Three Broomsticks, past Janis and Lily as they walked in from the street. Ignoring their calls, she made her way back to the castle, her thoughts still lingering on the feeling of Sirius's lips on her own.

In the days and weeks that followed, Hogwarts went relatively prank-free, and speculation began spreading through the halls. Why had the anonymous troublemaker stopped? Were they done for good? Or were they just planning something more grandiose than usual?

On the last day of classes before Christmas break, Lily and Janis looked across the table in the Great Hall at Montgomery, who was playing morosely with her oatmeal. Their friend had barely said anything to them in the past two months. Sometimes, they caught her glaring at the Marauders over her homework in the common room. But just as often, they saw her eyes fill with sadness whenever Sirius passed her in the halls. Her friends were particularly worried about her lack of pranks. Even if she _was _mad at the Marauders for tricking her, it wasn't like her to let them affect her fun.

As Montgomery picked at a piece of toast on her plate, Janis decided she'd had just about enough of her friend's moping.

"That's it," she said. Montgomery raised a lazy eyebrow at her before turning her attention back to the oatmeal. "Hey. Hey you. In the front," Janis continued, waving her hand in Montgomery's face to get her attention. "We're moving our trip to Spain up a few months. You're coming to my Grandma's house for Christmas."

* * *

**Ah, young love. Had a lot of fun writing this chapter, look forward to more in the near future! Montgomery is starting to realize that she has feelings for Sirius and things are really starting to get interesting...**

**R&R because it makes me feel loved.**


	13. Distractions

**Disclaimer: Don't own any characters from Harry Potter.**

* * *

On their way to Potions, Janis and Lily took turns bullying Montgomery as she walked quietly beside them.

"You've barely said anything in _weeks_, Monty," said Janis as they descended the stairs into their classroom.

"Before this whole Halloween business, you wouldn't shut up about going to Spain this summer," said Lily, swinging her bag onto the table. Janis sat at the table in front of them and turned around with her arms crossed.

"I'll give you a Ducati," she said, raising her voice a few octaves. Montgomery practically jumped out of her seat.

"What?" she said. Janis smiled.

"Well, not really. But I'll teach you how to ride mine." Montgomery sighed and pulled out her textbook, flipping through it as her friends waited for an answer.

"You guys are forgetting one major flaw in your plan." Lily and Janis looked at each other and raised their eyebrows. As they looked back at Montgomery, the three of them were wearing identical frowns.

"Parents," they all said at the same time.

"There's no way my parents are going to let me go hang out in your grandmother's castle in Spain, riding around on motorcycles without a care in the world," said Montgomery. As she spoke, the rest of the class started filing into the room. Severus sat next to Lily and opened his potions book, perusing the lesson for the day. This was often his attitude when his friends insisted on talking to Janis during class. Lily glared at him out of the corner of her eye before responding.

"Is this Montgomery Finkle admitting defeat to a challenge?" she said in mock shock. "I never thought I'd see the day…"

"What?" said Montgomery. "I doubt your parents would be much better. Is any of your family even at the house?" she asked, turning to Janis who smirked in response.

"No, besides the cleaning staff we'd have it all to ourselves," she said. Slughorn hobbled in and took his place at the front of the class. The three girls turned their attention to him as he began explaining their assignment.

"Today we will start learning about basic healing potions," began Slughorn. Montgomery heard Severus scoff. "Please turn to page two hundred and thirty seven of your books and follow the instructions accordingly." The class pulled out their cauldrons and started organizing their ingredients. In the commotion, Janis turned around again.

"Come on Monty, it would be a blast," she begged. "I know you can come up with a plan, you're one of the smartest people in our year." Severus gave a mean laugh as he began adding ingredients to his cauldron. Janis turned to him and glared.

"Well she is!" she whispered angrily. "There's no one in this school that comes up with more creative ideas than Monty." Severus rolled his eyes and pulled on his dragon gloves.

"Thanks Janis, but it's useless anyway," said Monty as she lit the fire under her cauldron with a prod of her wand. "My parents wrote me the other day and said that I have to stay home for the holidays." Janis gave a huff of anger and turned back to her potion. Lily sighed and shook her head at Severus sadly before beginning her own work.

As Montgomery smashed a cockroach into fine powder and added it to her cauldron, she pondered over their dilemma. She really _did _want to go to Spain for break. It would be just the thing to get her mind off of…other things. Sneaking a peak at Sirius at the front of the class, she sighed.

Ever since Halloween, Montgomery had not been able to shake the feeling of Sirius kissing her. She lay in bed late at night, thinking about the softness of his lips and the subtle saltiness of his tongue.

Her eyes began to water as thick clouds of blue smoke suddenly billowed from her cauldron straight into her face. Slughorn bounced over jovially, wagging his sausagey finger at her.

"Added the frog tongue already, Miss Finkle?" Montgomery looked down at her potion as it congealed into a blob at the bottom of her cauldron. He peered into it and gave a little chuckle. "Maybe you should start working on your makeup essay about the proper use of amphibian muscle." He emptied her cauldron with a wave of his wand and handed her a blank piece of parchment. She looked at it with a frown on her face before turning to the chapter on frogs and resigning herself to the inevitable.

As she scribbled away, her head continued to work out the problem of going to Spain and being at her house over holiday at the same time. As she paused to dip her quill in ink, she looked up and saw Severus finishing up his potion and it hit her like the Hogwarts Express. She hastily ripped off the bottom of her parchment and scrawled a note to Lily.

_We're going to need the rest of Severus's Polyjuice Potion._ Lily read it and smiled before turning to strike up a quiet conversation with Severus. Montgomery couldn't hear what they were saying, but she saw his reluctant scowl turn slowly into a submissive frown as Lily worked her magic. By the end of the lesson, Montgomery's paper was only half written but Lily had successfully convinced Severus to give her the rest of the potion he had brewed for Montgomery in October.

"What are you planning?" asked Lily as they headed up the stairs to Charms. Janis ran up behind them.

"You're planning something?" she said, laughing and breathing heavily. "I _knew _it." As they walked into class, Janis added, "Welcome back, Monty," before they took their seats. "Now let's hear what you've got in mind."

As Professor Flitwick explained the theory of the Caterwauling Charm, Montgomery leaned in to whisper her plan.

"Okay, well the first part is pretty straight forward," she said as Lily and Janis inclined their heads to listen. "You guys just have to tell your parents that you're spending the holiday at my house." They nodded. "My parents are a bit more of a challenge, but with a little Polyjuice Potion, they should be easily appeased." Lily furrowed her eyebrows.

"What do you mean?" she whispered, pretending to take notes on Flitwick's lecture.

"I'll convince one of the students staying at school to go to my house and pretend to be me for two weeks." Janis and Lily stared at her.

"How did you plan on doing that, exactly?" asked Janis. Montgomery frowned.

"Haven't worked that bit out yet, but we still have the rest of the day to knead out the details."

"Pay attention please, girls," said Flitwick from the front of the room. The three of them stopped talking and took notes for the rest of class.

That night, the common room was bustling with excitement for the holidays. As students laughed and joked around them, Lily, Janis and Montgomery watched for people who looked like they might be willing to take a bribe. Finally, Montgomery saw a second year sitting in the corner of the room, looking particularly downtrodden. She walked over to the girl, whose name she thought was Mary, and sat beside her.

"Hi…Mary," she said hesitantly. Mary nodded towards her and sighed. "Staying at school over break?" she asked, trying to sound as friendly as possible.

"Yeah," she said after a minute. "My parents are going visit my aunt in France and she _hates _me. I'd rather stay here alone than listen to her complain about how I got into Gryffindor instead of Ravenclaw for two weeks." Montgomery nodded with sympathy and paused a moment before continuing.

"Well," she began. "I have a proposition for you." Mary raised her eyebrows and leaned back on her arms. "How would you like to go to my house and pose as me over break so that my friends and I can spend two weeks in Spain getting into trouble?"

"Um…" said Mary, looking over at Lily and Janis. They waved at her and smiled. She waved tentatively back. "What's in it for me?"

"Well, we've talked it over," said Montgomery, anticipating this problem. "Lily and Janis's presents are going to get sent to my house since their parents are under the impression that they're spending Christmas with me." Mary nodded. "And we've decided that you can have your pick of our presents." Her eyes lit up.

"Anything I want?" she asked, hopping up and down.

"Any _one _thing. Considering that our parents love to spoil us silly, we think that's fair." Mary nodded. "Now," Montgomery continued, pulling a large beaker out of her robes and handing it to her. "We have enough Polyjuice Potion for you to take every day. You don't have to take it at night; I convinced my parents to stop checking on me in my sleep last summer." Mary stared at her. "They, uh, _really _love me. I hope you know what you're in for."

As Mary ran up the stairs to pack some pajamas, Montgomery reclaimed her seat between Lily and Janis by the fire. "Mission accomplished," she said. "High fives all around."

"Wait," said Lily after the girls celebrated for a few minutes. "How exactly are we going to get to Spain?" Montgomery laughed.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you that part of the plan," she said between giggles. "We're flying." Janis and Lily looked at each other.

"On brooms?" said Lily, apprehension on her face.

"No, on my carpet," answered Montgomery. "Didn't I tell you I finally got a strong enough charm on it for long distances?" Lily shook her head. They'd gone out on Montgomery's flying carpet a few times, but it always died out over Hogsmeade and they had to sneak back into the castle through the Honeydukes basement.

"Are you sure it's strong enough?" Janis said, raising her eyebrows.

"Yeah, and exactly how long is it going to take to get all the way to Spain?" said Lily. Montgomery could see that they were beginning to regret ever bringing up the idea.

"Well if we leave tonight, we can probably get there by tomorrow night."

"_Tonight_?" said Janis and Lily in unison.

"Yup!" she smiled. She grabbed onto their hands and dragged them upstairs to pack. Once they were done, Montgomery pulled out a gray polka-dotted carpet from under her bed and laid it out on the floor.

"It looks bigger than last time," said Lily.

"Yeah, I had to enlarge it quite a bit so it could handle the combination of the Hover Charm and Locomotor required for cross-country travel. There should be plenty of room for us to sleep over most of Europe."

Janis eyed it warily. "We're going to have to fly pretty high to avoid the muggles," she said.

"Don't worry, I also cast an inversed Imperturbable Charm on it that kicks in at five thousand feet," she said, waving her hand absently as she piled their bags onto the back. "There's no way we're falling off this baby."

"Well _that's _a relief," said Janis, rolling her eyes and climbing on. Lily crawled on behind her. Montgomery opened the window next to her bed and went to sit in front of Janis. The carpet rose off the ground and swiftly flew through the window into the cold night sky. As they soared over the grounds, Montgomery let out an excited cry, and Sirius Black was the furthest thing from her mind.

* * *

**Hey guys, this chapter's a little short but hopefully I'll be updating again soon. And as annoying as it is, I will be the first to admit that feedback speeds up the writing process, so R&R 3**


	14. Peanut Butter Promises

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters belong to JKR.**

* * *

After several long hours spent flying through the cold December air, the girls drifted off to sleep, careful to avoid the edges of the carpet. No matter how adept Montgomery was at Charms, one glance over the edge at the ocean below was enough to make even Lily laugh nervously and pull her robes tight around her body.

The sky began turning pink as the sun set to their right. Janis stirred awake and looked warily over the edge at the ground below.

"I think we're getting close," she said, shaking Montgomery awake. "That looks like Madrid." Lily gave a low groan and rolled over before sitting up.

"My back is killing me," she said, looking down where she had been laying moments before and giving a laugh. "And no wonder!" She reached down and picked up Snuffles, who glared at her. "It seems we have a stowaway. He must have still been in your robes when we left." Montgomery took him from Lily and held him up to her face.

"Does Snuffles want to learn how to ride motorcycles too?" she said in a baby face before nuzzling their noses together. His eyes closed and he gave a squeak of content before jumping out of her hands and back into the pocket of her robes. They all laughed and took turns peering over the edge of the carpet as they began to descend.

The clouds around them were a deep purple against the rich green of the countryside, and moments later, Janis gave a cry and pointed to a large castle on the horizon. "There it is!" she said. Montgomery and Lily turned and gaped at the looming chateau before them. Even in the low light, Montgomery could tell that Janis's grandmother must have been bordering on royalty to have lived in such a place. Although not as vast as Hogwarts, the structure still boasted several turrets, and as the carpet continued to drop, she noticed a deep moat surrounding the enclosed space.

"Wow," she said, and Lily nodded in agreement. "Do you guys have crocodiles in there?" she asked, pointing to the moat. Janis rolled her eyes as the carpet came slowly to a stop, hovering a few feet off the ground. Montgomery jumped off and straightened her robes, looking around.

"I think someone's already home," she said, pointing at the drawbridge, which was stretched out across the moat. A sleek black car was parked on it, and she heard Janis give a low gasp.

"Alejandro," she whispered, grabbing her bag and getting to her feet. The name rang familiar in Montgomery's mind.

"Your brother?" she asked. Janis nodded and began walking towards the large double doors, rummaging through her robe pockets. Finally, she pulled out a large brass key and stuck it into the lock, looking over her shoulder.

"Don't worry, I don't think he'll bite," she said, laughing nervously and turning the key. With a resounding click, she pulled the door open and held it for her friends. "Come on, chivalry isn't dead after all," she said, ushering them forward. Montgomery looked at Lily and shrugged her shoulders before rolling up the carpet and walking inside.

Her face became immediately stuck in a large spider web, but it was too dark to properly swat it away. "I can't see a damn thing," she whispered as Janis and Lily sidled in behind her, closing the door and engulfing them in blackness. She raised her wand to light a lamp she'd seen on the way in, but Janis grabbed her arm.

"Are you loco?" she whispered harshly. "There are no wizards for miles around here and we've all got the trace on us." Montgomery rolled her eyes but lowered her arm all the same.

"How are we supposed to see then," she said, a bit more grumpy than usual from the poor night's sleep and the face full of cobwebs.

"Hellooo Monty," said Janis, "This is a _muggle _castle." With that, she reached over to the lamp and turned up the gas, illuminating the hallway in a soft yellow glow. Montgomery looked at the lamp with a grin.

"Wicked," she said. Janis and Lily sighed in unison before making their way up the stairs, lugging their bags behind them.

As they climbed through the castle, Montgomery noticed signs of recent life. Papers were scattered across the floor. Dirty clothes were strewn over the lush runners carpeting the ground. And as they passed the kitchen, she noticed a sink full of dishes and empty peanut butter jars.

"We can stay in the wing on the main floor," explained Janis over her shoulder as she shoved her shoulder into a partially opened door. "This is the room I stayed in over the summer…" she began, turning her head back around. She let out a sudden yelp and grabbed the handle, slamming the door shut with a blush. Montgomery heard an exclamation from the room.

"_Janis_?" cried who Montgomery assumed was Alejandro from the other side of the door. "Que estas haciendo aqui?!" Janis smiled sheepishly at Lily and Montgomery before walking quickly away from the door.

"He was…just getting out of the shower," she explained, walking into the kitchen and setting her bag down. "I think we caught him a bit off guard." Montgomery laughed as she sat beside her friend. Alejandro's continued to shout at Janis from the room, and they heard him stumbling over furniture before he emerged fully clothed but still damp from the shower. He looked almost like Janis's twin, with the same golden skin and dark hair, except for about a foot in height difference. He brushed his bangs carelessly out of his black eyes as he turned to glare at his sister.

"Janis," he said, trying to compose himself as he leaned against the doorframe. "What are you doing here? Why aren't you home?"

"Uh…" Janis looked at Lily and Montgomery, who shrugged their shoulders. "My friends and I just needed to get away from it all."

"Away from i_t all_? Dios mio, you're fifteen, what exactly is there to escape from?" He ran his fingers through his hair and looked at Montgomery with a raised eyebrow. Janis rolled her eyes.

"Sorry we can't all be super cool nineteen year olds," she said, picking up an abandoned ham sandwich on the counter and smelling it skeptically. "And where are all the maids that came with this joint?" The four of them looked at the mountain of dirty dishes.

"I told them to go home for the holidays," Alejandro answered simply as he began to poke around the cupboards. "They were distracting me from my work anyway."

"And what is it exactly that you do?" asked Montgomery as he opened a fresh jar of peanut butter and scooped some out with his finger. He looked up at her and was about to answer when Janis interrupted him.

"He's a _writer_," she said, with obvious sarcasm. "Writes all these trashy Spanish romance novels that sell like crazy."

"Yes," Alejandro jumped in, sticking his peanut-butter covered finger in his mouth and sucking on it thoughtfully. "And I _thought _I would be able to come down here and get some peace and quiet so I could meet my next deadline, but apparently…" he waved his sticky fingers at the girls and sighed. A loud squeak erupted from Montgomery's pocket, and before she could stop him, Snuffles leapt out from her robes and landed neatly in the crook of Alejandro's arm. As the four of them looked on in awe, he shuffled slowly into Alejandro's big hand and began licking his fingers.

"Um," Montgomery said, as they sat transfixed, staring at the rabbit. "Snuffles likes peanut butter." The four of them burst into laughter, but Snuffles was undeterred and continued his ministrations. As they began to calm down, he picked up Snuffles by the scruff of the neck and held him up to meet his eyes.

"I feel like you're just looking for a physical relationship," he said seriously. Snuffles licked his nose in response. Alejandro sighed. "I guess it's lucky I'm unattached then," he said, before heading back towards his room. "I'll be borrowing your little friend here," he shouted over his shoulder, slamming the door behind him. Montgomery looked at Janis for an explanation. Janis just shrugged.

"He's just some crazy artist," she said. "Snuffles should be fine with him," she added as Montgomery raised her eyebrows expectantly. With that, she picked up her bag and led down the hall to pick out their bedrooms.

The next few days passed in a blur. Montgomery, Lily and Janis steered clear of Alejandro's room, where he could be heard typing away feverishly on his typewriter. They spent their first morning exploring the castle, which had its share of secret passageways. But they soon gave this up since the occasional doorway concealed behind a bookcase paled in comparison to the endless twists and turns of Hogwarts. And even _those_ had lost their appeal to Montgomery years ago.

So they took instead to spending time in the castle's vast car garage, which had obviously been an add-on by Janis's eccentric grandmother. Several rows of motorcycles and spare parts filled the room, and Montgomery and Janis spent hours tinkering and doing test runs around the castle. Montgomery was very interested in the different parts of one Harley in particular, and began thinking up ways she could charm it into the air. Lily feigned interest at first, but ended up sitting on the floor catching up on homework most of the time.

Christmas came and went without incident. Mary sent Montgomery a letter a few days later, explaining that she had chosen a locket from the piles of presents and would bring them the rest of their loot upon returning to Hogwarts.

On the night before the girls were planning to leave, Montgomery braved Alejandro's room with a knock to retrieve Snuffles, who had not emerged at all during the holidays.

She heard a muffled shuffling of papers before Alejandro opened the door, holding a pencil between his teeth.

"Yeah…" he began.

"Montgomery," she said, rolling her eyes. "Or Monty. Whichever."

"Right," he said, opening the door wider and stepping aside. Montgomery walked past him and began looking around the room. The floor was completely hidden under several layers of half-finished pages. She saw a typewriter on the disheveled bed in the corner and let out a laugh.

"Muggles are so interesting," she said, shaking her head and looking at Alejandro with a smirk. He scratched his shoulder absently and quirked an eyebrow.

"Yeah yeah, we can't all be super cool wizards," he said, sighing. "I supposed you're here to break my heart?" Montgomery stared at him and he laughed. "You want the rabbit."

"If you don't mind," she said, holding out her hand. Alejandro shrugged his shoulders.

"I actually don't know where he is at the moment…"he said, trailing off and getting on his hands and knees to look under his bed.

Montgomery joined him and they slowly made their way around the room. As she picked up a few sheets of paper in her way, she heard Alejandro cough behind her.

"Um," he began. "I don't think you're old enough to read those," he said, laughing. "So don't get any ideas." Montgomery laughed and put the papers back on the floor behind her.

"Well I wasn't _going _to," she said. "But now I'm kind of curious." She picked up another pile of papers and pretended to peruse them with a shocked expression on her face. Alejandro lunged to knock them out of her hand, but slipped on his knees and landed on top of her instead. They both blushed.

"Sorry," he said, pushing off the ground quickly. "But you really shouldn't read them." Montgomery recovered quickly from the awkward moment and laughed.

"I wasn't really reading them, just teasing." He looked relieved. "I'm not much of a reader anyways," she said, continuing the search for Snuffles. "I'd rather experience things than read about them." Another awkward moment passed as they shuffled through the piles of smut, thinking about the double entendre. Finally, Alejandro let out a cry and stood up, a peanut butter jar in his hand. He reached in gently and pulled out Snuffles, who was looking significantly stickier and fatter than Montgomery remembered.

"Damn, I'm going to have to scourgify him when we get back to school," she said, taking him from Alejandro's hand. He raised a questioning eyebrow. "It's a cleaning charm."

"Why don't you just wash him off here?" he asked, rolling his eyes and grabbing Snuffles back from her before heading into the bathroom. Montgomery followed him and leaned against the doorframe as he filled the sink with warm water and began gingerly scrubbing the rabbit's peanut-butter colored fur. "All you wizard-raised people have forgotten how to do things without magic."

"I can do things just fine without magic," said Montgomery defensively. "It just doesn't come to mind at first." Alejandro's eyes concentrated on Snuffles, who was none too happy to be thrown into a sink and made several escape attempts among the bubbles.

"I heard you guys riding the bikes the other day," he said after a few minutes of silence. He looked at her reflection in the mirror. "If you get any good we should race sometime," he added with a smile, pulling Snuffles out of the water and towel drying him playfully. He placed the rabbit, who was looking extra fuzzy from the static of the towel, back into Montgomery's outstretched hand and walked passed her to sit on his bed. He pulled a fresh sheet of paper out of his desk and placed it into his typewriter before looking up at her with a smirk. Montgomery laughed softly and walked towards the door.

"I'll take that as my cue to leave," she said, pocketing Snuffles and closing the door behind her.

The girls flew back to Hogwarts the next day, without any goodbyes from Alejandro. But Janis kept up a tirade concerning his "trashy" novels for a good portion of the day. They fell asleep later that night and woke up in the midst of a blue fog that hinted at the approaching dawn. The carpet had landed on top of the East Tower, and they decided to climb in through a window and make their way towards their dorms for a hot shower before class.

"That was a good holiday," said Montgomery as they headed down to breakfast. "And it gave me a lot to think about." Lily and Janis looked at each other and laughed.

"Would that 'a lot' have something to do with Alejandro?" asked Janis with a knowing nod. Montgomery looked at her in surprise.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I saw you come out of his room the other night," said Lily, wiggling her eyebrows uncharacteristically. Montgomery rolled her eyes and sat down at the table.

As she began filling her plate with eggs she said, "You're starting to sound like James, Lily." The smirk slid off of Lily's face onto the floor.

"Oh please," she said, pouring herself some orange juice. "That stupid prat wouldn't know a romantic rendez vous if it smacked him in the face."

"And neither would you, apparently," said Montgomery, laughing and taking a bite of toast. "I was just getting Snuffles."

"Then how come you looked so flushed?" inquired Lily, recovering her smirk.

"I think your eyes are playing tricks on you," Montgomery replied, taking a sip from Lily's glass. "You just _wanted _me to look flushed because you think I'm hung up on Sirius." Lily and Janis exchanged a look. "Well, I'm _not_. I was just really annoyed at being used like that and it really bothered me for some reason." As she finished her eggs, she stood up and shouldered her bag. "And as far as what I have to _think _about, let's just say Hogwarts is about to be hit with some pranks the likes of which it's never seen before," she said with a smirk. Lily and Janis laughed and followed suit. The three of them began heading towards Potions and were soon joined by Severus.

"Hello, Lily," he said in a pleasant voice. "Good holiday?" She smiled at him and nodded.

Through all their classes that day, Montgomery had the distinct impression that Sirius was staring at her. But she couldn't be sure because every time she went to look, his head would jerk forward. That night, as she sat by the fire in the common room with a copy of Janis's Muggle Studies book in her lap, she contemplated whether or not she should confront him about it. But before she made up her mind, he wandered over and plopped down beside her.

"Hi Monty," he said hesitantly. "How was your break?"

"It was fine," she said, not looking up. "Janis taught me how to ride a motorcycle." She heard his quick intake of breath a looked up.

"You like motorcycles?" he said with a look of shock on his face.

"Yeah, it was a blast," she said, smiling. "In fact, I've gained a whole new appreciation for non-magical entertainment." She pointed to the book. Sirius looked at it and laughed.

"I didn't know you could read," he teased. Montgomery sighed.

"It's come and go, you know." A silence settled between them for a few minutes as Montgomery continued perusing the book.

"Um," he started, but was interrupted as Mary ran up to them with a small pile of presents in her hands.

"Hey Montgomery," she said, a bit breathless. "Here's your presents." Monty sat up and took the pile from the second-year with a smile.

"Did you enjoy yourself?" Montgomery asked with a knowing smirk. Mary laughed.

"You were _not _kidding about your parents," she said, playing with the locket around her neck. Montgomery noticed it seemed to catch Sirius's eye. "They were on top of me all holiday. Had a few close shaves with the potion, I'll have you know." Montgomery raised her eyebrows. "Well," continued Mary. "How was I supposed to know they would be waiting for me after showers and things? But not to worry," she said, seeing the look of distress on Montgomery's face, "They didn't suspect a thing." With that, she gave a friendly wave and skipped away.

"What was she doing with that locket?" said Sirius as soon as she was out of earshot. Montgomery stared at him.

"Oh, that must be the one she picked as her payment." Sirius quirked an eyebrow. "Well, me, Lily and Janis went to Spain for the holidays and I convinced Mary to take some Polyjuice Potion and pretend to be me for a couple weeks to appease my parents. We said she could have her pick of our presents and I guess she chose that. Why do you ask?" she said as she began unwrapping the small pile of presents Mary had delivered her.

"Well, _I _kind of meant that locket to go to you," he said after a minute. Montgomery dropped the half-opened bottle of lavender extract in her hand and looked at him with wide eyes. "You know, a sort of apology for being such a prick." Montgomery began to speak but he held up his hand. "It's fine though, all in the name of a good prank, right?" Without another word, he stood up and walked towards the boys' dorms, leaving Montgomery feeling very confused.


	15. Sharp Words and Soft Intentions

**Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter, just this sorry excuse for a story.**

**Quick explanation: Some of you might be missing Sirius in this story, but I assure you he's going to become a bigger part of it in the coming chapters. My attempt to keep this in entirely the same POV has limited how much we get to see of Sirius's life so far. I admit that I was a bit too ambitious in starting from their first year, but I really wanted to try and develop the characters as much as I could. Hopefully you will forgive me for zooming through fourth and fifth year in this chapter, but I was personally getting anxious about their youth and wanted to get things rolling a bit sooner than I had originally planned.**

**Also, I might get some flak for making Sirius incredibly passive about this whole Montgomery situation at first. But let me just say that Sirius's primary allegiance has been and always will be to the Marauders and especially to James. Even if he gets upset by a girl, I just don't see him getting too emotional about it. I am in the process of working on a few more interesting "plot bunnies" as they have been dubbed that should hopefully make things interesting for you guys. **

**So as always, read, review, and most importantly, enjoy!  
**

* * *

The rest of fourth year passed in a blur. While Sirius remained resolutely cold towards her, Montgomery amused herself by setting up a series of muggle pranks around the school. The most brilliant part, by far, she thought while pouring bags of cement mix into the boys' toilet on the fourth floor, was that no one would suspect her since she wasn't muggleborn.

On Valentine's Day, she snuck a simple laxative into the kitchens right under the house elves' noses. Instead of focusing on how to gain the affections of their crushes, anyone who had eaten the porridge for breakfast that day had to rush off to the toilet, often disrupting class in their urgency. A few days later, the entire Hufflepuff table could be heard complaining about how their toothbrushes had tasted like vinegar that morning.

For April Fool's Day, Montgomery set up a complex pulley system over the Great Hall. Just as everyone was sitting down for dinner, she had one of her trusty suits of armor pull on a rope and all of her classmates were showered with hundreds of tennis balls. And before the last Hogsmeade trip of the year, she snuck into the seventh year boys' dorms and swapped all of their money for leprechaun gold. She hid the real gold under their beds, so there was no permanent damage done, but the boys were more than a bit perturbed to find their pockets empty when they went to buy treats from Zonko's or Honeydukes.

Montgomery spent most of her summer in Spain, racing motorcycles with Alejandro and Janis, reading the complex charms books that Professor Flitwick had lent her, trying to teach Snuffles to play dead. She had finally begun to grow into her body, but she was ignorant of the ways Alejandro had started to notice. What did it matter if his hand lingered on her's when he taught her how to pop the clutch? Who would perceive the fact that he started leaving his room more and more to eat meals with them? Montgomery wouldn't hear Janis's insistence that her brother had clearly taking a liking to her, even when the two became pen pals at the start of their fifth year.

Alejandro often wrote to her about his latest stories, bar fights he got into with the locals, a new part he had ordered for her favorite bike. Janis rolled her eyes whenever she saw an owl land in front of Montgomery at breakfast and Lily broke into a fit of giggles. But Montgomery's new correspondent wasn't the only change that year. Lily had been given the title of prefect, which she actually took somewhat seriously. She started spending more time with Remus Lupin, who had been appointed prefect as well. She even had the gall to scold the Marauders for some of their more dangerous pranks. But they just laughed at her, and Lily spent a lot of her time complaining to Montgomery and Janis about Remus's lack of control over his trouble-making friends.

Meanwhile, Montgomery and Janis had to be sneakier about their own shenanigans with Lily on their case. Aided by the Room of Requirement, which supplied them with many of their mischievous needs, the two managed to pull a number of harmless pranks that year despite Lily's suspicions. The most amusing of which was turning the lake into a giant vat of orange Jello just before the Easter holiday. This one had actually been Alejandro's idea, who had sent a small case of gelatin to Montgomery the week before and suggested that she replicate it and put it to good use.

The relationship between Sirius and Montgomery remained cool. They sometimes greeted each other in the halls, or laughed at the other's latest prank. But overall it was clear to them both that they had grown apart. Some small hurts are more touching than others, and as Montgomery remained unaware of any ulterior motives Sirius may have had in giving her a locket for Christmas the previous year, neither of them was willing to reopen the channels of communication. But between planning pranks with Janis and frequent letters to and from Alejandro, Montgomery was far from fussed from losing Sirius as a friend and fellow hooligan. She did notice, however, that the Marauders seemed closer than ever and mused that it must have something to do with the pact she had overheard at the end of their first year. Perhaps their plans had finally begun to pull through.

With Lily busy performing prefect duties and Severus spending more and more time with his Slytherin friends, Montgomery's Potions work began taking a nose dive. By the time O.W.L.s came around, she was thinking that she'd be lucky to pull an A. While she excelled in Charms, Arithmancy had obviously been a disaster. As she poured over the numbers, she couldn't help but look sideways at Lily and roll her eyes. The redhead laughed lightly and mouthed the word, "Sorry," before getting back to work.

She couldn't help but scoff through the rest of her O.W.L.s when she noticed Sirius and James smirking at each other at the seeming simplicity of the tests. They really were quite big-headed, even if they had the talent to back it up, no wonder Lily and Severus couldn't stand them. Though, she did laugh with the rest when Sirius made the back of Professor Ogden's robes see-through as he was making the rounds during their Transfiguration written exam.

Defense Against the Dark Arts was their last exam. She had received another letter from Alejandro that morning and had decided to put off reading it until that afternoon so she could focus on her test. As the fifth year girls soaked their feet in the lake (which had been un-Jello'd with a wave of Dumbledore's wand weeks ago), Montgomery pulled the letter out and began to read about Alejandro's latest schemes regarding a failed attempt to begin a street race with some locals. She hadn't noticed Lily get up until Janis poked her arm and jerked her head towards the scene that was unfolding before them.

Montgomery looked on in shock as she heard Severus call his best friend a mudblood. She couldn't see Lily's face to judge her reaction, but she heard enough pain in her angrily shaking voice to know that severe damage had been done. With an angry cry, Lily told James to get on with teasing Severus before storming off towards the castle. Janis and Montgomery got up to follow her.

They didn't catch up to her until they reached the Gryffindor dorm. Lily fell face-forward onto her bed and gave a single sob as her friends sat down on either side of her, speaking in soothing tones and rubbing her back. To be honest, Montgomery had seen this falling out coming a mile away. Severus had always seemed a bit too interested in the Dark Arts for her taste, not to mention his clear hatred of muggleborns was frankly disturbing. But he had seemed to genuinely care about Lily, and Montgomery was more than a little shaken to hear him talk to her in such a derogatory way.

As the day progressed, Janis suggested that they go down for dinner, but Lily said that she didn't want to see anyone. Montgomery offered to go to the kitchens to get some food so they could have a more private meal and Lily nodded her head, giving a weak smile and wiped away a few of her tears. Janis made to get up but Montgomery said she could manage on her own. However, when she stepped into the common room, Montgomery spotted Mary sitting in a nearby chair and walked over to her.

"Hey," she said. Mary looked up from her book and gave an acknowledging smile. "Want to come with me to the kitchens?" The eager third year jumped up and placed her book on the table.

As they walked through the castle, Mary talked nervously about exams. As it turns out, her entire family had been in Ravenclaw, so there was extra pressure on what grades she got. Montgomery laughed when she tickled the pear and Mary let out a gasp of surprise. She always enjoyed the reactions of people she brought to the kitchens. As the elves filled their arms with sweets (Montgomery thought the occasion called for more than the usual amount of chocolate for dinner), the two girls offered their thanks and made their way back towards Gryffindor Tower. Upon approaching the portrait of the Fat Lady, however, their eyes fell upon a cowering figure pacing in the hall.

When he saw them, Severus ran towards them, a mad look in his eyes. "Monty," he cried, "Please, please talk to Lily for me." Montgomery raised her eyebrows at him, unsure of what to make of the situation. Mary looked between the two older students, her mouth slightly agape. "I'll sleep out her if I have to, I just need to talk to her!"

"I really don't think you should hurt her anymore, Sev," said Montgomery after a moment of contemplation. "She's put up with a lot from you over the years, maybe it'd be better if you went your separate ways." At these words, he fell to his knees, grabbing the front of her robes. She juggled a few parcels of food to keep them from falling out of her arms.

"Please," he croaked, looking at the ground. "You don't know what she means to me." Montgomery sighed and gently shook him off her robes before motioning to Mary to follow her into the dorms. She heard Severus sobbing after them as the portrait swung shut behind them. The two went up the stairs and dumped the food onto Lily's bed. Her and Janis laughed at the amount of sweets and the four girls began making their way through their makeshift feast. After an hour or so of eating, they laid back on their beds (Mary was on the floor), basking in the fullness and the warmth of the night.

"Severus Snape is probably still outside waiting for you," said Mary, breaking the silence. Montgomery sat up and gave her a reproving look. She hadn't been planning on telling Lily about Severus's presence. "He said he will sleep there if it means he'll get the chance to talk to you." The three fifth years remained silent. Montgomery looked nervously down at Lily, whose face remained impassive. Finally, with a sigh, Lily got up and made her way towards the door.

"Are you sure you want to, Lily?" asked Janis. Lily looked back at them with a frown and nodded.

"It's time Sev and I severed ties," she said, putting on a strong face as she turned the nob and headed downstairs. Whatever transpired between the two that night, Montgomery never found out. All she knew was that Lily came back later with a dull, angry look in her eyes and the resolve to never mention Severus Snape again.

Montgomery's parents seemed determined to have her stay at home that summer. When she mentioned going to Spain again, they firmly put their feet down.

"Why don't you have some of your friends come visit us for a change," said her mother over dinner one night. Montgomery rolled her eyes but consented on the premise of making her parents pay for their clingy behavior. She wrote to Janis with a cry for help, and received a reply in the form of a roaring motorbike in front of her house a few days later.

She bounced down the stairs and opened the door, expecting to see Janis's smiling face. Instead, she was met with Alejandro's smirk. He laughed at her surprise and ran his hand through his hair. "Janis said you need some company for the summer." Montgomery opened the door wider and Alejandro walked in, sporting a large duffel bag over his shoulder and a helmet under his arm.

"Montgomery dear, what was that noise...?" called her mother, walking in from the kitchen. Montgomery heard an intake of breath as her mother noticed the dark, handsome muggle standing in her foyer.

"This is Alejandro, mum," she said, looking over her shoulder with innocent eyes. "You told me I could have friends over." Her mother stepped quickly over to the window and looked out at the motorcycle parked outside their house.

"Yes, well," she looked between Alejandro and the Harley a few more times before resigning herself to the situation. "It's lovely to finally meet you, dear," she said, extending her hand. Alejandro adjusted his bag and they shook hands. "How long will you be with us?"

"As long as you'll have me," he said, winking at Montgomery who choked back a laugh. Her mother's smile grew a bit more strained as she continued to shake Alejandro's hand.

"Lovely, lovely," Montgomery heard her say under her breath before finally letting go of him and walked back into the kitchen, undoubtedly to floo Montgomery's father about the nature of their guest.

"Er," said Montgomery, "Shall I show you to your room sir?" she asked with a bow. "Let me help you with that," she laughed, grabbing his helmet and running upstairs. Alejandro yelled and chased after her.

"You can have the guest room, it's right across from mine," she explained, opening a door to her right and walking inside. She placed his helmet on the dresser against the wall and they surveyed the space together. The off white walls glowed in the sun that shone through the window opposite the door. The bed was king-sized and covered in a white quilt with several throw pillows. The room was relatively sparse save for a few drawings that Montgomery had made as a child. Lily and Janis had often stayed here over the holidays, but Alejandro would be the first boy to occupy the room.

"Cozy," said Alejandro as he gingerly placed his bag on the bed. Montgomery heard the family clink of his type-writer and laughed.

"Planning on doing some work while your here?" she asked, untying the strings on his bag and pulling out the clunky machine.

"Of course!" he said, looking at the nearest stick-figure drawing with his arms crossed and a thoughtful expression on his face. "You're quite the Picasso," he teased.

"Yeah, my talent has gone downhill in the last few years though," she said, standing beside him.

"Anyway, I haven't been in London in over a year, I figured I might get inspired by the change of scene."

"Yes, nothing like some nice, fresh smog to really get those cogs rolling," laughed Montgomery as she headed for the door, grabbing his helmet on her way out. He gave her a surprised look.

"How do you, oh great witch, know about cogs?"

"I've been a secret studier of muggle ways ever since you told me I couldn't do anything without magic," she said over her shoulder as she walked down the stairs towards the front door. She looked to her right and then her left before whispering, "Geminio." She now held two helmets, one in each hand.

"Hey, I thought you weren't allowed to do magic outside of school," he said, following her out the front door. She straddled his bike and put her helmet on and he followed suit behind her, grabbing her waist.

"What mummy and daddy don't know won't hurt them," she said with a laugh as she kicked the bike into gear, turned sharply and zoomed off towards downtown London.


	16. Ice Cream and Kisses

**Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter or any of Jo's characters.**

**Warnings: Finally, some romance! But it's just the tip of the iceberg, really. **

* * *

"Hey Monty, want to take me to Diagon Alley?"

Montgomery rolled her eyes and didn't look up from her book as she said, "Why? Running low on frog spawn?"

"Uh, no," said Alejandro, laughing and plopping down beside her on her bed. "I've actually got writer's block, so I really need to get out of the house."

She sighed. Alejandro had asked her to take him to Diagon Alley a few times since he'd gotten to London a couple weeks ago. At first, she'd been surprised that he even knew about it, but he explained that he'd gone with his sister before her first year at Hogwarts. So far, Montgomery had been able to distract him with other things, or remind him that he had writing to do. But Alejandro seemed persistent.

To be honest, Montgomery was wary of bringing him anywhere that had to do with the wizarding world. Alejandro wasn't aware of the danger he was in as a muggle, and she was hesitant to let him in on how dangerous things were getting. She'd read her mother's Dailey Prophet upside down over breakfast that morning, and the front page was riddled with more strange disappearances, more people acting oddly, more brutal muggle baitings.

Her stream of thought was broken by Alejandro grabbing her book and flipping through it. "Come on, Monty," he pouted. "No offense, but this place is dull as anything. I need to experience life and get my creative juices flowing." He looked up at her with puppy eyes and made his bottom lip quivered.

She rolled her eyes. "Get a grip," she said, pulling her book out of his hands and placing it on the nightstand next to her bed. Before she got the chance to make up another excuse not to go however, they were jolted out of bed by a scream from downstairs.

"Montgomery, your O.W.L. results are here!" shouted her mother. Montgomery bounded down the stairs, closely followed by Alejandro.

"Owl results?" he asked as they walked into the kitchen.

Montgomery laughed. "Doesn't Janis tell you anything?" He shook his head. "We take O.W.L.s in order to see what classes we'll take sixth and seventh year." She grabbed the half-opened letter out of her mother's hand and began reading.

"'Es' in Astronomy, Care of Magical Creatures, Defense Against the Dark Arts, History of Magic, Herbology and Transfiguration," she read off the parchment. "And an 'O' in Charms! Professor Flitwick is going to be so happy!"

Alejandro was reading over her shoulder. "Yeah but you tested as a troll in Arithmancy," he said. "That doesn't sound too good." Montgomery pushed him away as she continued to look over her results. She wasn't surprised to have tested poorly in Potions but was glad to be able to finally give up the subject that had given her so much trouble over the past five years.

"Congratulations Montgomery," said her mother, pulling her into a tight hug. "Your father and I are so proud." Montgomery caught Alejandro's eyes and smirked. Her mother's affection was a running joke between them.

"There was a list of supplies that came with your results," said her mother finally. "We should go to Diagon Alley this weekend and pick some things up." Alejandro's eyes lit up and he nodded.

Montgomery pulled away from her mother and crossed her arms. "Mum, I don't need you to take me to Diagon Alley, it's only a few blocks away."

"Now dear," said her mother more sternly. "These are dangerous times and I can't have you running around London unsupervised."

Montgomery caught Alejandro's confused look and frowned. "Um…I won't be unsupervised," she said with a resigned sigh. "Alejandro will be with me." Her mother looked over at Alejandro and gave a polite smile before pulling Montgomery towards her to whisper in her ear.

"But dear, he's a muggle," she said quietly, but Alejandro still heard and had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing.

"So what? We'll put him in some of dad's clothes and no one will be the wiser." Her mother still didn't look convinced but Montgomery took advantage of her silence. "Thanks, mum!" she said, kissing her on the cheek and grabbing Alejandro's hand to pull him upstairs.

Her parents' room was on the third floor. Montgomery stood in their closet, holding up various robes to Alejandro's body as she tried to decide on his disguise.

"Is all this really necessary?" he asked, looking down at the pile of discarded robes. "And what did your mum mean, 'dangerous times'?"

Montgomery looked over her shoulder at him for a second as she pushed aside a few rows of dress robes to get to her father's day-wear. "Well, I don't know how much Janis has told you, considering she hasn't even mentioned O.W.L.s…" she began.

"Does it have to do with that You Know Who guy?" he interrupted. Montgomery stared at him.

"How'd you know?"

"I couldn't sleep the other night and went downstairs to read your dad's Evening Prophet," he explained. Montgomery turned her focus back to the clothes.

"Well yeah, that's who's causing all the trouble," she said, her voice muffled by one of her mother's furs. "Him and his cronies."

"Well I'm not afraid of him," said Alejandro. Montgomery shot him a pitying look.

"You have no idea what he's capable of," she said, settling on long, green summer robes. She pulled them off the hanger and tossed them to Alejandro, who pulled them on with a look of amusement.

"How do I look?" he asked, walking into the bedroom to examine himself in the mirror.

"Very dapper," she said, rolling her eyes. "Now come on."

The walk to the Leaky Cauldron was a short one. Montgomery had to pull Alejandro to a stop in front of it to keep him from walking past it. He let out a whistle as she dragged him inside. They waved to the barman and stepped out back, where Montgomery tapped the appropriate brick to open up the alley. Alejandro grinned at her with an uncharacteristically boyish, excited look before running ahead of her.

She yelled after him as he dashed into Flourish and Blotts. "You don't have any wizard money on you, idiot," she said, finally catching up to him. "And what are you going to do with spell books?"

"Get inspired," he said, flipping through the pages of "The Wayward Romance of Wild Windle." Montgomery laughed as she read the title before pulling out her booklist. She bought the books she would need to continue with Care of Magical Creatures, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, History of Magic and Transfiguration and pulled Alejandro away from the romance novels into the street.

"How about some ice cream," she said in response to his longing look back at the bookstore. He nodded and they walked together towards Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. Montgomery let out a gasp of surprise as she saw two familiar faces sitting at a table outside, enjoying large chocolate sundaes.

"Crap," she whispered, jumping behind Alejandro's tall frame. "Hide me, hide me."

"What is it, Monty?" he said, not bothering to keep his voice down. She stood on her tip toes and peaked over his shoulder to see if they had noticed her. Indeed, she now saw Sirius Black and James Potter staring in their general direction. A look of recognition crossed Sirius's face and he waved at her before she got a chance to hide her face again.

"Hey Monty," he said. James waved at her too and beckoned them forward. Montgomery glared at Alejandro before walking over to them.

"Hey Sirius, James." The two boys looked behind her expectantly at Alejandro. "Oh, this is Alejandro, he's Janis's brother." Alejandro stepped forward after being introduced and shook their hands.

"He's a bit old for you, isn't he, Monty?" teased James, returning to his ice cream. Montgomery rolled her eyes and Alejandro laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head.

"I thought Janis was the only witch in her family," said Sirius. "What's he doing wearing wizard robes?"

"I'm incognito," answered Alejandro before Montgomery could say anything. "Monty's mum wanted her to have a chaperone to protect her from You Know Who." Sirius and James snorted into their ice creams.

"Fat lot of help you'd be," said James. "What are you going to do if Voldemort shows up, throw a pencil at him and hope it hits him in the eye?"

Alejandro looked at Montgomery with his eyebrows raised, and she retorted with a look that clearly said, "This is what you get for saying my name so loudly."

"Anyway," said Montgomery after a moment of awkward silence. But she was interrupted by Florean, who ushered them into the table next to James and Sirius and asked them for their orders.

"I'll have a strawberry and peanut butter sundae," said Alejandro.

"I'll take anything you've got with nuts," she said, not looking at the menu. James laughed again as Florean went inside.

"What do you need nuts for, you've already got them," he said, smirking at Sirius. Montgomery ignored him, but Alejandro gave him an annoyed look.

"What exactly is that supposed to mean?" he said, a quiver of anger in his voice.

"I don't know how to break this to you mate," began James. "But you're dating a bloke."

Alejandro glared at him. "Montgomery and I are not dating," he said. "And she's not a bloke." At this point, Florean had come back with their orders, and Alejandro attacked his ice cream with extra vigor.

"You would know best what's between her legs," muttered Sirius. Alejandro looked like he was about to stand up and punch him in the face, so Montgomery quickly interjected.

"What are you guys doing in Diagon Alley?" she asked them loudly as she looked at Alejandro, silently telling him to drop it. She was used to their constant teasing, but she knew it took some time to acclimate to the rowdier half of the Marauders.

"James and I were just buying some stuff for school," answered Sirius, giving Alejandro a wary look. "We got our O.W.L. results, 'Os' across the board."

"Well, except for History of Magic," said James, sucking on his spoon thoughtfully. "But who really counts that?"

"Congratulations," said Montgomery.

"How'd you do?" asked Sirius.

"Mostly 'Es,'" she explained. "But I got an 'O' in Charms."

"Nice," said Sirius with a smile.

"And a 'T' in Arithmancy," muttered Alejandro. Montgomery kicked him under the table as James and Sirius burst into laughter.

"Yes, har har," she said after they'd settled down again. "It's Lily's fault, I never wanted to take that class in the first place." James's face grew suddenly solemn at the mention of Lily's name. Sirius gave his friend a pitying look before turning back to Montgomery.

"He owled Evans to meet up with us, but it came back unopened," he said in a hushed voice. Montgomery laughed a little as she reached over and took a bite of Alejandro's ice cream. "It's no laughing matter!" he scolded her, shaking an angry finger. "Prongs here is head over heels and at the rate he's going, he's going to die old and alone."

"Well what do you expect," she said, waving her spoon at James. "He keeps doing the same thing, expecting different results." James looked at her, bewildered. "What? Has she ever seemed impressed with your shenanigans? You can't hex people left and right and then expect her to fall into your arms. Lily has higher standards than that!"

Sirius nodded, looking over at James. "She's right, mate. Maybe it's time you changed your tactics a bit."

James stirred his melted ice cream thoughtfully. "What, and give up our trouble-making ways?" he asked after a few minutes.

"Lily's still friends with Monty even though she pulls lots of pranks," said Alejandro when no one said anything. "Maybe you should just deflate your head a bit." James looked at him like he'd never seen anything like him before in his life.

"You think I'm conceited, do you?" he said angrily. Montgomery and Sirius simultaneously rolled their eyes.

"You ARE conceited, you idiot," said Montgomery, sensing danger as James clenched his fist. "That's why Lily won't give you the time of day." James glared at her.

"What would you know, you've never had a boyfriend in your life," he said.

"You're right," said Montgomery, finally losing her resolve as she got to her feet and pulled out a galleon for their ice cream. "It's not like I've lived with her for the past five years or anything," she shouted, throwing the galleon onto the table. "Not like I've spent every waking minute of my life listening to her complain about you!" With that, she stormed off, pulling Alejandro along with her.

"Ugh," she said as they walked through the Leaky Cauldron. "I can't stand those two, always making fun of me, always thinking they're the best at everything." Alejandro began to speak but she cut him off. "Lily better never date that idiot or I don't know what I'll do." She continued her tirade as they made their way through the busy streets of London back to her house. Montgomery stomped up the stairs, ignoring her mother's greeting. Alejandro followed behind her, dodging the bag of books that was swinging dangerously from her arm.

"Colloportus!" she yelled, slamming her bedroom door behind her before Alejandro could walk through. She heard him try the lock in vain and knock a few times.

"Monty, what are you so mad about?" he said through the door. "Who cares if you've never had a boyfriend, you're only sixteen."

"I might as well be a hundred," she said, flopping onto her bed and staring resolutely at the ceiling.

"You don't look like a bloke either," he consoled, "That idiot doesn't know what he's talking about."

Alejandro continued talking for a few minutes, but Montgomery would not budge to unlock the door and let him in. Eventually, he seemed to give up and she heard him go down the stairs and out the front door. She couldn't bring herself to get up and look out the window to see where he was going, but she assumed that he was sick of her teenage-antics and had hit the road. Strangely, she didn't hear the motorcycle roar to life, but she figured it must have been drowned out by the traffic outside.

Montgomery rolled to her side and looked at herself in the mirror against the wall. The same droopy, hazel eyes looked back at her, the same tangle of blonde, the same thin face. She stood up and examined her profile silently for a few minutes, holding her hair up off her back.

It was unmistakable. Those were breasts poking out between her arms. And she could make out the subtle curve of hips beneath her jeans. Really, she wasn't boy-like at all, not anymore. She let her hair fall down her back and reveled in the way it caught the sun through her curtains. It was really rather lovely. Sure, she was still tall and gangly as ever. But she was far from that little girl that got off the Hogwarts Express five years ago. Why did James and Sirius insist on teasing her about things that just did not pertain to her anymore?

It _did _bother her. A person can only take criticism for so long before it gets personal. More importantly, Montgomery had known subconsciously for some time now that the feelings she harbored for Sirius were far from platonic. She could distract herself all she liked with pranks and school and Alejandro. But those feelings would still be there, born from years of pranks and awkward moments together, bred by a bond they had shared almost from the beginning. It was a playful rivalry, a persistent longing for the other's attention.

Maybe it wasn't until this moment, looking into her own eyes as she thought about Sirius, that she recognized that feeling; the subtle contracting of her stomach at the image of his face, a smile that always graced her lips when she remembered the exact pitch of his barking laugh.

But she frowned. Sirius didn't feel the same way, she was nearly certain. He was so dedicated to his friends, and James's feelings about her could not be plainer, a lingering contempt and disregard. There was no hope for the situation. Her feelings would remain her own. Now all she had to do was get over him and move on.

She jumped at the sound of her mother's voice calling for dinner. With a sigh, she struck one more pose in the mirror before unlocking her door and walked slowly down the stairs.

Halfway through a silent meal, Alejandro burst through the front door. "Sorry for being late, Mrs. Finkle," he said, taking his usual seat next to Montgomery at the table. "I had to see a man about a horse."

Mr. and Mrs. Finkle looked at each other in confusion. "A horse, dear?" said Montgomery's mother, not noticing that her sprouts had fallen off her fork.

Alejandro laughed. "It's a muggle expression," he explained, helping himself to the potatoes.

"Yes, but what does it _mean_?" inquired her father.

Alejandro considered him for a minute before smiling and saying, "I have no idea." As he continued eating, Montgomery tried to catch his eye for an explanation of where he'd gone, but Alejandro seemed to be avoiding her. He made small talk with her parents and then excused himself before everyone else and bounding up the stairs into his room. Montgomery followed him soon after, but found his door closed. She could hear his typewriter clicking away and knew that she would have to wait to ask him.

She walked back into her room and sat on her bed, emptying the bag of books she'd bought that day. She was just about to start looking through her new Charms textbook when she heard tapping at her window. Wondering who would be writing to her at this hour, she stood up and let the unfamiliar owl into her room. It hopped onto her nightstand and held out its leg. As soon as she untied the envelope, it flew back out into the night.

Montgomery sat back on her bed and opened the letter.

_Monty,_

_You've got a good friend in Alejandro. He came back to Diagon Alley after you'd stormed off and shouted at us for a good twenty minutes for being immature idiots. I've got to hand it to him, he made a few good points._

_Sirius and I never meant to hurt you with our teasing. I thought that's just how we talked to each other. (And you have to admit, you haven't held back on the insults over the years, either!) But we realize now that they could have been taken the wrong way._

_And I know you were really just trying to help me with Lily. Trust me, you'll be seeing a new James Potter walking onto the Hogwarts Express this year. I've got a few tricks up my sleeve yet, Lily will never see this one coming!_

_So, for the record, you're not a bloke. And I'm sure you'll have a boyfriend soon enough. _

_Oh, and Sirius just moved in with me a few days ago. He got in a huge row with his mum about something or other. So try to go easy on him this year, he doesn't show it but I know he's really down right now._

_-J_

Montgomery had to read the letter over twice before it sunk in. James Potter, apologizing? She never thought she'd live to see the day. Maybe he really _was _going to be different this year. She continued looking at the parchment and Alejandro's name stood out to her. Without a second thought, she stood up and ran across the hall, opening Alejandro's door without a knock.

He looked up from his typewriter and smiled. Montgomery noticed there was no paper in it and gave him a confused look. "I thought you were working away in here," she said, sitting beside him on the bed.

"The sound sooths me," he said sagely, laughing and lying back on the pillows. "I've still got writer's block though."

"Sorry to hear that," she said. A few moments passed by in silence as they stared at each other.

"James Potter just sent me a letter," she said after a minute.

"I thought he might," said Alejandro, resting his arms behind his head. "It took a lot of convincing to get through that thick skull, let me tell you."

Montgomery fell back onto the pillow next to him. "How did you even get into Diagon Alley without a wand? How did you even find the Leaky Cauldron?"

"It was a thing of beauty," said Alejandro. "Well, I think that once you know where the Leaky Cauldron is, it makes it easier to see it. Still took a few minutes of me staring right in the middle of those two shops though. And then it was just _there_, like magic!" He paused for a laugh. "Once I was inside, mind you I was still wearing those robes, I told the barman that I had forgotten my wand at home and that my girlfriend had left her bag at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. So he did the whole…brick thing for me and BAM! I was in."

Montgomery imagined the whole adventure for a few minutes before sighing. "So what did you say to them exactly?"

"A little of this, a little of that," he said, looking sideways at her with a smirk. "That other guy, Sirius, was it? He didn't have much to say, just kind of stared at me. But James said he'd apologize as soon as he could."

"Well I can't believe you got through to him," she said, rolling onto her side and propping up her head with her hand. "James Potter never listens to anyone but himself. And maybe Sirius."

"The kid's gotta grow up sometime, Monty. And for his sake, better be sooner rather than later."

Montgomery stared at him for a couple more minutes before leaning forward and kissing him softly on the lips. "Thanks, Alejandro," she whispered. Without waiting for his reaction, she jumped up off the bed and went into her own room, closing the door behind her.

What had she just done?

* * *

**This is my longest chapter ever written. Woo me. Also have a question for you guys, I think I asked it a few chapters back but then again, that was a few YEARS ago and I can't remember if anyone answered. Would you guys like a happy ending or sad ending? Basically I'm debating right now on where I want the story to go. Not that it's anywhere near done but I'd like to have all the details worked out ****beforehand.**

**Hope you enjoyed! Read and review and start thinking about where you see the story going. I really respect and would take into consideration what you guys have to say about it.**


End file.
